Moro Plantation Waterproof, Louisiana.

I placed the property on the National Register of Historic Places and asked guidance from the Historic Natchez Foundation as well as the Department of Historic Preservation in Baton Rouge. Without the help of these two fine organizations we would not have been able to do it. We owe thanks to so many who have helped us. Skip Tuminello, our architect from Vicksburg, showed us how to lay brick for the downstairs which had been only dirt with some rough concrete in spots. C & S Roofing of Natchez (with instruction from the Historic Natchez Foundation) replaced the roof with an asphalt shingle designed to mimic the original cedar shingles. All 32 windows have been newly milled to duplicate the originals.

The lion’s share of the work has fallen to two of our neighbors, Steve Rabb and Houston Holmes. Steve took heart of pine boards from the attic and patched floors on the main level. He duplicated millwork and installed windows. He rebuilt the porches and handrails (including duplicating the curved ones). In his spare time he fixed our washing machine.

Houston painted every square inch of the house. His first job was to hand sand all the hand hewn beams on the lower level and whitewash them (again according to instructions from Historic Natchez). One of the rooms had been used as a smoke room so it was particularly difficult. Houston helped select the colors we eventually used and even re-painted some that we were not happy with. In his spare time he planted plants and mowed the lawn.

It was not until we had the floors sanded that we thought we were making progress. We had fixed the floors using the original old boards (some painted an oil based chocolate brown) and the replacements from the attic. Ellis Felter from Natchez sanded them all by machine and they are absolutely beautiful.

My brother Philip insisted that we save the old original paint in the upstairs hallway. I though it was worthless, but he was right. Houston was able to remove the “hospital green” which covered it and what we found was one of the few extant examples of “faux bois” (or fake wood) in the whole Miss-Lou area. If one looks closely it can be seen that cypress wallboards have been hand painted to look like pine or maple.

The side of the house facing the road is the original back of the house. The house faced northeast with Muddy Bayou as the main transportation and the Mississippi River (now held back by the levee system) to the east. The room with the elaborate scroll woodwork would have been the parlor. The house is unique since all the rooms have a different pattern of woodwork.

The tile work was done by Wilson Tile and Marble of Natchez. The two new bathrooms upstairs were allowed to be added by taking part of the area from each of two adjoining rooms. The tub downstairs belonged to our father. It was refinished by Glenn Whitton.

Please fill free to give us a call to schedule your next family reunion or party. We have attached some pictures to show our catering services by Roy James and the restoration work by Steve Rabb Construction.

Moro Plantation sold at Auction

New Orleans, 1869

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Moro Plantation Movie page2.htm

Home - History of Moro Page 1 Plantation P1 History Page 2 History Page 3 Catering Map to Moro Moro Special Events Let us serve you Calendar Contact Us Reconstruction By Rabb Construction 1998 P1 Index of Pages Waterproof Weather
	The restoration has taken nearly five years. Unknown to our parents who were in failing health for many years termites had taken their toll. The roof leaked and all the windows had rotted out. The heart of pine floors had been chewed in places as well. So what started as a fix it here and fix it there eventually amounted to a complete renovation. I placed the property on the National Register of Historic Places and asked guidance from the Historic Natchez Foundation as well as the Department of Historic Preservation in Baton Rouge. Without the help of these two fine organizations we would not have been able to do it. We owe thanks to so many who have helped us. Skip Tuminello, our architect from Vicksburg, showed us how to lay brick for the downstairs which had been only dirt with some rough concrete in spots. C & S Roofing of Natchez (with instruction from the Historic Natchez Foundation) replaced the roof with an asphalt shingle designed to mimic the original cedar shingles. All 32 windows have been newly milled to duplicate the originals. The lion’s share of the work has fallen to two of our neighbors, Steve Rabb and Houston Holmes. Steve took heart of pine boards from the attic and patched floors on the main level. He duplicated millwork and installed windows. He rebuilt the porches and handrails (including duplicating the curved ones). In his spare time he fixed our washing machine. Houston painted every square inch of the house. His first job was to hand sand all the hand hewn beams on the lower level and whitewash them (again according to instructions from Historic Natchez). One of the rooms had been used as a smoke room so it was particularly difficult. Houston helped select the colors we eventually used and even re-painted some that we were not happy with. In his spare time he planted plants and mowed the lawn. It was not until we had the floors sanded that we thought we were making progress. We had fixed the floors using the original old boards (some painted an oil based chocolate brown) and the replacements from the attic. Ellis Felter from Natchez sanded them all by machine and they are absolutely beautiful. My brother Philip insisted that we save the old original paint in the upstairs hallway. I though it was worthless, but he was right. Houston was able to remove the “hospital green” which covered it and what we found was one of the few extant examples of “faux bois” (or fake wood) in the whole Miss-Lou area. If one looks closely it can be seen that cypress wallboards have been hand painted to look like pine or maple. The side of the house facing the road is the original back of the house. The house faced northeast with Muddy Bayou as the main transportation and the Mississippi River (now held back by the levee system) to the east. The room with the elaborate scroll woodwork would have been the parlor. The house is unique since all the rooms have a different pattern of woodwork. The tile work was done by Wilson Tile and Marble of Natchez. The two new bathrooms upstairs were allowed to be added by taking part of the area from each of two adjoining rooms. The tub downstairs belonged to our father. It was refinished by Glenn Whitton. We hope all guests enjoy the property as much as we do. Please fill free to give us a call to schedule your next family reunion or party. We have attached some pictures to show our catering services by Roy James and the restoration work by Steve Rabb Construction. Carolyn James Bishop Richard R. Bishop Phillip James Moro Plantation sold at Auction New Orleans, 1869 Click image to enlarge Click here for TEXT Index of Pages Hits since August 15, 2008