The history of St. Joseph Plantation was very interesting. Wish we had the time to see the sister's plantation next door. Sylvia was an excellent tour guide and we enjoyed the tour with her. read more

One of the few fully intact sugar plantations remaining in the river parishes, the descendants of the second family to have owned this plantation and the neighboring Felicity Plantation still own, operate and maintain both sites. They have just opened the Felicity Plantation for tours, though it's still a work in progress getting it renovated. Both sites are less commercialized than some others in the area. St Joseph does an "in mourning" tours in October, which I hope to come back for. St Joseph Plantation is one of my favorite tours so far. It was just myself and the tour guide. The tour guide (I can't remember her name) is well versed in the genealogy of the families in the area. The tour started with a short video on how sugar cane is processed, planted, harvested and is very interesting. The guide spent a lot of time with me telling me all of the details, answering all of my questions and thoroughly covering every single detail. I really enjoyed this tour. It was also not as white washed as some of the other tours in the area. One of the guides also volunteered to give me a tour of Felicity (after I paid of course) next door. It was also just me and the tour guide on this tour. The downstairs they are making to be like how the house would have been originally and the second floor how the second family would have had it in the mid-20th century. Upstairs they had the top half of what was an elevator they had installed, and I think would make for perfect photo shoots for someone announcing they were coming out of the closet, and where else would be better since that kind of thing was looked down upon even up to the recent past. They are still working on this house, so no photos are allowed inside, but this has been the set of many films. The whole experience was amazing. I suggest both tours if you are in the area for other tours. Make a whole day of it! read more

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Great informational tour. They have alot of artifacts on display. They also explain the process of refining sugar. We enjoyed St.Joseph.

This was easily my favorite plantation! It's family owned and the tour guide was so lovely and full of knowledge about both the St. Joseph and Felicity houses. Beautiful grounds and ancient oaks, Theodore and Simon An experience you can't miss! read more

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This was an amazing tour! Loved seeing a plantation home that is still in use by the family. We toured felicity and highly recommend it. It's about a 1 min drive from St Joseph. It's a great tour to combine with Oak Alley bc the original owners were relatives and the plantations are very close to each other. read more

We went to St Joseph's to see the property featured "in mourning". Ok, so I've put off doing this review for a long, long time, simply bc it's emotional for me.... Because I take great issue with Plantations for a plethora of obvious reasons. I feel physically ill in their presence, I view them for what they are/were and that is nothing good in any way. St Joseph's is still owned by the same family today that owned it a century ago. That said, we came here bc of the history and how this family owns its history. In fact, the family itself works the property & many of the tours. Many of you will recognize the property from Queen Sugar and 12 Years A Slave. The history of the property is reviewed throughout the tour, and I want to note that the current family - the Waguespack-Simon Family purchased it in 1877 in a Post Civil-War Auction, and it has remained in their hands ever since. I think it is this reason that they are brutally honest with the history & retrospect of this property, and I appreciated how it wasn't glossed over. Sylvia covered the previous owners, their histories, their ties with the Enslaved communities *including Dr Mericq*, and how the property was built by the hands of the skilled Enslaved men - because their "owners" didn't have that level of expertise or craftsmanship. I tool a picture of a doorway that looked into a doorway that looked into a doorway- almost 200yrs later, how many storms, how many families, etc and everything still perfectly in alignment. She had a true admiration for their skill, recognizing how much of the community was built by them and given credit to others instead... she covered so much of that while also covering the families history, as well of the Mourning Practices of the Predominantly Catholic Community of the time. And I also have to give her props for pointing us to the Whitney Plantation, which was a life changing experience. So thank you to Sylvia for a truly amazing tour and for presenting such an accurate accounting of the history. read more

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St. Joe's, as they call it, is as "family-run" establishment, as they say. It's one of the few plantations that kept running over the years, and it has been owned by the same family for something like 100 years. I wish I could say more details about exactly what family, but I went on 3 plantation tours in 1 day and was a bit overwhelmed with all of the history. It was opened to the public fairly recently, so it does not have as much traffic as some other plantations, but I would highly recommend it if you're on a day trip to plantations. Suffice it to say, St. Joe's is worth a stop. It's quite beautiful, and our tour guide was very friendly and informative despite the fact that we were running late and had to shorten our tour to about 50 minutes! The tour guides were not dressed up in period garb, which I have stated before makes me feel more comfortable--those gowns just seem hoaky. I like to think the tour is about the plantation, telling its stories, not pretending we still live in the 1800s. read more

St. Joseph Plantation - Back of the house. - Tours Near Me - Vacherie, Louisiana

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Fantastic experience on this tour. It is a wonderful example of how the plantation owners lived after the Civil War: very simple decor, slaves stayed on as paid workers, modest lifestyle. There were only three people including myself on the cold wet December day that I came here. Tours were $12/pp (unless you had a Groupon) and started on the hour. The tour guides are all AMAZING ladies who really love the history of the home and is still family owned. Members of the family would still come and volunteer on the site, so it was wonderful to meet someone who actually has an ancestral connection with the plantation. This made tipping after the tour a bit awkward since I wanted to show my appreciation by tipping but didn't want to offend anyone by offering money at the end of a lovely conversation about their family's home. (So I just thanked them and left. I hope that was the correct etiquette.) Overall, I would definitely recommend visiting the St. Joseph Plantation as a contrasting perspective of what life really looked like after the Civil War. Don't expect grand ornate interiors and furniture, you wouldn't have found that in families after the South lost the war. Do expect honest history and maybe even a chance to play an organ made in the 1800s by the Ursuline nuns. Enjoy! read more

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I purchased a groupon (like everyone else at the tour) for a visit to St. Joseph's Plantation. The drive is about 50 mins from New Orleans and is a bit smaller than Oak Alley. Pros: The actors and story tellers were fabulous. The history behind the house and the amount of detail they spent creating the tour was amazing. They had about 6-10 actors/participants in the recreation and they made it really realistic. I went in October so I think they were having a special about the deceased within the household. Cons: The plantation is a bit small and I wish they focused more on the Slaves such as slaves living conditions, living quarters, specific stories about the slaves experiences, etc. They kind of just tacked on a bit about the slaves at the end as an optional part which was nice but I think it should be included in the real thing. Overall, the tour is incredibly worth it for the groupon price ($10-11 a person). I don't think I would pay more than $15 though. The staff was very nice and directed us on where to go. I would highly recommend this plantation. It's about 5 minutes away from oak alley which you can just walk around the perimeter for free. read more

My friend and I took a tour to two of the plantations - St Joseph and the Whitney. We were Interested in St. Joseph because one of our favorite TV shows, Queen Sugar is filmed at it. The tour was lovely and the guide gave a lot of good information on the working plantation and history of the slaves at this plantation. I've been to other plantations that did not handle this subject appropriately or sensitively. We were interested in the Whitney because it has been turned into the only museum on the history of slaves in Louisiana. The tour guide at the Whitney was excellent. She gave us a lot of new information and handled some of the people in our tour group that were getting angry and upset very well. She was able to calm people down and remind them that this was an educational place and should be used for learning and healing but repeatedly said she knew this was an upsetting topic and it should be. I would highly recommend both of these tours that tours by Isabelle offers. read more

Our tour guide was a sweet lady, very informative. I don't think it was a complete waste, but not worth the hour long drive from Nola. Fortunately, it's within 5 mins or so from 3 other larger plantations. If you get a good deal on Groupon or the like and have time to kill, I'd say go. read more

Our tour of St. Joseph's Plantation started with a 10 minute video about sugar cane and its production. The video overall was informative, but it ended with commentary on the health benefits of sugar, which was definitely not true and uncomfortable to watch. Our tour guide did warn us about this though which we appreciated. Afterwards, we were given a tour of the plantation by an enthusiastic and very knowledgeable tour guide who was open to answering any questions we had. It was interesting to hear more about the history of the plantation owners and their lives. Our tour guide briefly discussed the history of the slaves on the plantation, but I would have loved to hear more about it. Overall, it was a fun day activity and easy to get to via car from New Orleans (one hour drive). Would love to check out some of the other plantations in the area In the future! read more

Where else can you tour a beautifully maintained, lovingly restored, working, 2500 acre sugar cane plantation with the narrative provided by a member of the family who has owned the property for the past 140 years? I'm pretty sure only at St. Joseph Plantation! Sure, there are other lovely plantations to see in the area, but none with the authenticity that we experienced here. The stories our guide shared of playing on the balcony as a child and of her grandmother having dates on the levy in front of the property were so endearing! There's no commercial vibe in a single inch of this plantation, evidenced by the numerous original outbuildings including a kitchen, schoolhouse, blacksmith and slave quarters. And that 400 year old oak tree out back, amazing! If you're looking to experience both the beautiful and painful history of an authentic Louisiana Sugar Cane Plantation, make sure this stop is on your list! read more

Good tour but Whitney Plantation has more to see and more information about the area and land. read more

St. Joseph Plantation - Tours Near Me - Vacherie, Louisiana

My husband and I think that this plantation gave us the best tour, among the ones we visited (i.e. laura, oak alley, whitney, houmas) This is the only sugarcane plantation that in operation to this day. Our tour guide gave a firsthand experience tour, since she is kin to the owner of St. Joseph and contributed to some memorabilias in the house. I highly recommend St. Joseph Plantation if you're visiting! read more

Thoroughly enjoyed our tour of St. Joseph in late-February. It was one of the plantations that I knew in advance that I was going to enjoy, and I was not disappointed. Sylvia, our tour guide, was very knowledgeable on the history of the plantation, especially regarding the post Civil War period and the Waguespack family who purchased it in 1877. We were able to meet two of the Waguespack family descendants while we were there, Diane and James, and had lengthy conversations with both of them. This plantation is much more "low-key" than other plantations in the area, and the fact that it is family owned and operated makes it even more special. I highly recommend visiting St. Joseph if you seek a less commercially-run plantation home experience. read more

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This home and tour is just plain awesome! We had a tour of 3 homes of our choice that we purchased in New Orleans for a fun day trip. We went to "Oak Alley" first and while beautiful is so commercialized. After that the tour guide tried to push everyone to go to "Laura" but i had my heart set on St. Joes. The other folks on the bus listened to the driver and went to "Laura". I am so glad we did not follow them. We were the only 2 on the bus that went to this home. There are no fake guides with old time clothes here. The actual family member take you through and share really personal stories of their youth as you walk through the gorgeous home. There are many out buildings to see and beautiful grounds. I really felt that we had stepped back in time through the very descriptive stories they told. You could actually picture what it was like. Once we thanked the guides we got back on the bus and everyone listened to us talk about it. They were so jealous that they did not go here instead. Sounds like "laura" was nice but not in any way the experience we had. This one is a do not miss on your tour. Thanks again to the "Ladies of the house". read more

Lured by a Groupon I came for the tour and decided to have a plantation day since that's about the only thing to do when driving all the way to Vacherie. The plantation is literally next door neighbor's with the more famed Oak Alley. The tour here was actually pretty impressive. The plantation is still family owned by the last family to actually call St. Joseph's their permanent residence. This home is also one of the only ones with intact slave cabins left that you can tour. The salve cabins themselves are kind of run down, but I'm sure as they're open longer for tours and get more funding they'll be able to keep them up better. I especially like that they kept the inner staircase that the servants used as un-restored so you can see the wear on it and what the house looked like without the renovations and restorations. Definitely recommend visiting this place if you come down for the other plantation tours that line the river. Touring Oak Alley after this place made me appreciate the tour here even more. While Oak Alley is a beautiful, impressive place, it is a little scripted and the tour of St. Joseph's just feels more museum-like and personal. read more

We visited the St. Joseph, Oak Alley, and the Whitney plantation. St. Joseph was not the most glamorous but was by far the best tour. Our tour guid Silvia was a wealth of information and took the time to tell the stories that brought the life and times alive. (Look at the ax marks in this hand cut beam in the wall, they left them like that because the plaster would grip better...) read more

This is a fantastic stop in plantation country. It's literally right next door to Oak Alley (which we went to afterwards), and couldn't be more different. I think they are the perfect two plantations to visit because they are opposites in almost every way. Oak Alley is commercialized, full of replicas, pre-Civil War glory, Greek-revival, with costumed tour guides. St. Joe's is family owned & operated, has original pieces, post-war practicality, Creole raised style, with family and friends giving the tours. Sylvia was our guide and has known the family at least 40 years and had researched and interviewed some of the older generation. She was very knowledgeable and truly made it a delight. St. Joe's is more hands-on, and she even invited my husband to play the pump organ. The grounds are also gorgeous, with many outbuildings (kitchen, slave cottages, etc) to see. Family members kept popping in and out, which was great to see. Many still live in other houses on the grounds! They obviously take pride in their property, and you can definitely tell. Loved this place. read more

This tour was really family oriented and rich in history. I enjoyed that they spoke a lot on the history of the house, as well as how the various other structures on the plantation come into play. What was particularly interesting is that many of the people working and giving tours are still somehow related to the families that used to live there. The house is furnished in family heirs as well as furniture from the times. I would recommend this if you are looking for a personal tour on a specific piece of history. Although it did not tour the grounds, which I would have liked, we were allowed to tour them ourselves, and the guide gave us enough information that we knew what she was talking about. read more

I have visited several plantations and this was really good. Diane was our guide and she is a direct descendant of the sugar cane family that owns and runs the place since 1877. The tour starts with a short video in can process. Diane was full of information and open to questions. They have been open for 10 years and although not quite as grand as their neighbor at Oak Alley still a beautiful place. I wish them continued luck and success. It was an ugly rainy day so we didn't get to tour the outside grounds and slave houses. read more

Bought a Groupon of a tour for 2 as part of a birthday weekend for my fiancé. The house is very nice and the tour was perfect. We were the only ones there so we basically had a private tour. read more

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I bought my tickets online through Groupon and it was well worth it. I also got an awesome discount as well. We were on the way to New Orleans and made a stop along the way to do a sugar cane plantation tour. The land and house is beautiful not to mention the landscape as well. Our tour guide Sylvia Zeringue was so sweet and very informative. She answered all our questions very well. They have slave cabins out in the back if you are interested. Also a lot of movies were filmed at the house along with celebrities who have taken tours as well. They were nice enough to let us pick our own sugar cane to take with us. If you are ever in the area I recommend requesting Sylvia. read more

St. Joseph Plantation - This is the entrance to the tour. Enjoy!! - Tours Near Me - Vacherie, Louisiana

The tour guide was extremely informative and the house was absolutely beautiful. This plantation is still family owned and operated, much different than the one located next door. I HIGHLY recommend taking the tour at St. Joseph's and driving by the other plantations. read more

This is the best plantation tour I have been on. Plantation is still in the family that has owned it since 1800s. Very personal, our tour guide was a great great great granddaughter of the owner. She was very informational about the history of the plantation and even allows you to take photos inside the plantation. Also, has original slave cabins you can go into! Wonderful people and beautiful plantation! read more

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Such a beautiful property! Our guide was super nice and very knowledgeable. The views from the porch are amazing and it's amazing how well the House has been maintained. read more

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I just took a tour of this plantation with my family. Now that we have done it, I am bit surprised that there are so many good reviews about St. Joseph. On the Old River Road I visited Laura, St. Joseph, Evergreen and Oak Valley Plantations. I would say this about St. Joseph: I wanted a place that would bring history to life. This wasn't it. I know the name of our tour guide but I don't want to publicly call her out on the Internet because maybe, just maybe she was having a really bad day. But, even on my very worst day - the worst day of my whole life - I wouldn't say the following, but she did. Hold onto your hats. She regaled us with comments like: "Slave owners wanted their slaves to be happy and healthy. They didn't hurt the slaves. Why would they want to hurt their slaves? That is a bunch of Hollywood stuff." She wanted us to know that the people who lived at St. Joseph felt responsible to the "workers" just as she and her husband would feel responsible to their workers today. She also told us that the "workers" were sold as slaves to America by the Africans and were being sold by the Africans as slaves to other countries long before America bought them. She continued to tell us that the "workers" were an asset until the war and then they became a drain. (For 99% of the tour this woman referred to the slaves as "workers." I reminded her that they were "slaves" and she didn't seem too pleased.) At one point my mom and I were too shocked to respond to her unbelievable statements, so we simply drifted into another room in the house. I didn't know whether to be enraged and yell at her, go in a corner and cry, or leave the tour early. It was so surreal. I had read previous reviews about St. Joseph and a couple of people did say (in their own words) that at St. Joseph there seemed to be some denial about slave life. But, I thought to myself, "Those people must have misunderstood or they are being a little harsh. Who could be in denial about slave life?" It seemed preposterous. Plus, there are so many great, praiseful and detailed reviews about St. Joseph on the Internet. So, from everything I read before the tour, I concluded that the tour would probably be historically accurate and well worth our time. Not only was it NOT worth our time (and money) but I have never left a tour feeling a little sick to my stomach. My whole family left in a funk. Not to mention that part of the tour was us wasting 13 minutes on a film about modern day sugar production. The film might be interesting in another setting, but it had little to do with history or the plantation so it felt out of place and odd. After the film we told our guide we wanted to know about how the sugar was harvested 150 years ago, but she couldn't address anything about sugar 150 years ago, nor answer our questions. In fact, she ignored or talked around just about every question we had about St. Joseph and plantations in the 1800s. Like other plantations, at this one there was no offer of taking us to the numerous slave cabins or even walking around the property outside. This tour consisted of the bland film about sugar and then walking through parts of the house. I have heard great things about San Francisco Plantation and Houmas House. I would spend my time at those plantations if I had to do it again. You might want to drive by Felicite (next door to St. Joseph) so you can see where "Twelve Years a Slave" was filmed and then move on. Especially if you believe that slavery was not only wrong but horrific, or you are interested in the incredibly rich history of life on the plantations. read more

This place was a huge waste of time. We came to this plantation because of the rave reviews and a groupon. Please save your money. Their tour was about how when the "master" would die how the wife would mourn his death! It was stupid. The whole time they just talked about what the wife would do and what she would wear. They talked about how the master treated his servants well and took care of them. What a crock! We literally wanted to walk out of this tour. We really wanted to hear the REAL story of the house... instead we heard made up stories. We left disappointed to say the least. read more

Wonderful experience and well worth the drive from New Orleans. There are a bunch of plantations giving tours, in this area, and I picked this one because the house looked beautiful. It was beautiful. The tour guide's family bought the plantation. Sometime after the civil war. It gave the whole tour a personal touch. It was like visiting an interesting friend's house that had a fascinating history. I highly recommend it! read more

I loved the whole authenticity of this plantation tour. I have been to others and each has something special to offer. This one for me felt genuine and our hostess who is a member of this family, was super sweet and well informed. I love how they are raising the money themselves toward the full restoration of the home and the fact that her grandmother and other lived in the home as recently as a generation ago. All of the plantation are beautiful. Some of them have more money behind them so they are extra beautiful, but it should not be a matter of which one is the best. Each offers something unique and St. Joseph touched my heart. It is also an amazing home and has a beautiful gift shop with handmade gift that you will find no where else. I will continue to bring people here and to other local plantations because the drive is beautiful and the people are very kind. You will not be disappointed, trust me. We should all feel fortunate that we still have these incredible places in our history to visit. read more

A smaller, less-well known plantation (right next door to Oak Alley), St. Joesph's was great because of the detailed and intimate tour we received. It was great to step back in time, in this home and appreciate the way the family has restored the home and the beautiful grounds. I really recommend that you go to this plantation, I would go to this plantation before oak alley, because the oaks in oak alley are just amazing, and you would probably end of comparing the two plantations, but St Josephs can be appreciated in its own right...but like I said you should go to this one first. =) read more

Run by very friendly people, we enjoyed our tour and walking the grounds which seems authentic and not over-restored. Interesting photo opportunities. read more

Received a great history lesson with the tour. Been in Louisiana for over 20 years and didn't know the history of sugar cane in our state

Everything is accurately stated in the two other reviews. The plantation home itself has not been staged as luxuriously as Oak Alley, and is somewhat modest in comparison (I would recommend going to Oak Alley afterwards). The tour however was still very authentic, and our guide had us so captivated with her local accent and extensive knowledge of the home. Still I would really like to hear more history and tribute to the slaves that worked these plantations. read more

My husband I enjoyed the history ( and the personal history ) of this tour. We had a great time on the Mourning Tour. It was not a commercialized as Oak Alley but much more enjoyable for us because of the personal touch! Thank you so much for a truly enriching experience. read more

This plantation is still owned by the family and several descendants still work there as tour guides. It is a beautiful example of a Creole Cottage style plantation that was later closed in. The tour guide is informative, and the plantation still has intact slave cabins to tour. Part of the family still lives in smaller houses behind the big plantation house. It is still a working sugar cane plantation. The best part of this is that they really make an effort to provide a full history of all the owners and the plantation rather than just focusing on one set of the owners. The tour and plantation doesn't feel commercialized at all. They have no problem with you taking photos and even touching pieces in the plantation house. We were allowed to even play the organ. The plantation is one of the less touted in the area, but it is definitely worth a trip. The tour is unlike most historical home tours in the access it affords you. Much of the wood and glass in the house remains historical. It is a beautiful example of Creole style plantations. read more

The longer reviews are very accurate. I got to talk to 80 & 90 year old family members who were born in the smaller cottages in the back. They were both still working to maintain the grounds. The tour guide was very knowledgable and descriptive. I got a real appreciation for the changes and adaptations that the grounds made over time. Also, I am a huge fan of the movie skeleton key which was filmed at Felicity plantation (the other side of the grounds). It was closed due to filming of a new documentary. read more

This was a great find! Our guide, Jackie, was the 6th (?) generation to grow up on this working sugar cane plantation. Her knowledge and insights to the history of the plantation was amazing...and her personal stories made us feel as if we grew up with her in the house. Not as grand as some of the other plantations, but a great example of Creole architecture. read more

The St. Joseph Plantation was the first I've ever visited. It was about an hour drive from the French Quarter. Joan was our tour guide and she was a wonderful historian and also a descendant of the original plantation owner's family. Joan was a wealth of knowledge and really took the time to explain the plantation's history, along with answering all of our questions. We never felt rushed and she was an absolute sweetheart. I would recommend this tour to anyone who has a lot of time to wander and tour the property. read more