Ashland Belle Helene is my favorite Louisiana plantation house, but it is rarely open to the public (which only adds to its mystery!) The photo was taken in 1999, the only time I toured the house. The house had been stabilized, the exterior had been restored, but the work on the interior had just begun. Some of the rooms had no floors, and we just had to peek at them from the hall. I had a film camera and the wrong film, so the interior shots are grainy and blurry. I've read that the interior has now been restored. I'd love to see it--but there is something intriguing about the way it was. . . .
