Parishes with the oldest homes in Louisiana
Parishes with the oldest homes in Louisiana
There's an undeniable charm that comes with pre-World War II American architecture, characterized by high ceilings, crown molding, hardwood floors, and ornate details. In fact, 11.4% of all housing units in America were built in 1939 or before, showing the popularity of the preservation of these units. Owning a piece of history can sometimes come with a cost: Many old homes come with asbestos, lead piping, knob-and-tube wiring, and other outdated building styles that can rack up a hefty price tag to modernize. However, with more and more modernized pre-war homes on the market, generally located just outside bustling downtown metros, investing in property that has withstood the test of time is an attractive prospect.
Stacker compiled a list of the parishes in Louisiana with the oldest homes using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Parishes are ranked by median year the structure was built according to 2023 5-year estimates. Ties broken by the highest percentage of homes built before 1939.
The country's domestic architecture is perhaps best characterized by a rugged individualism as opposed to the hybridization of disparate architectural elements. As Maya Angelou once perceptively observed, "the ache for home lives in all of us," a phrase that has meant very different things to different people.
Modest or palatial, there is no shortage of noteworthy homes in the U.S. Log cabins constructed by industrious pioneers have dotted the landscape alongside traditional Native American dwellings ever since immigrant Swedes introduced them to the New World in 1638. The unprecedented personal fortunes amassed by the so-called "Robber Barons" at the close of the 19th century gave way to the construction of a staggering number of Gilded Age estates.
The ravages of time spared neither the sumptuous nor the humble. Stately mansions, often prohibitively costly to maintain in the modern era, were frequently neglected; simple structures were forgotten, discarded by their owners, and damaged by natural elements. However, the tireless efforts of architectural preservationists and local historical societies have saved many of these homes from demolition, leading to their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and thereby safeguarding them for future generations.
Keep reading to learn more about which parishes in Louisiana have the oldest homes.
#50. Vernon Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 2.4% (522 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (155 homes)
- Total homes built: 22,073
#49. Calcasieu Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.2% (3,979 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.8% (2,660 homes)
- Total homes built: 94,462
#48. Caldwell Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.4% (253 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (25 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,644
#47. East Feliciana Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.7% (628 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (90 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,171
#46. Sabine Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.5% (479 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (146 homes)
- Total homes built: 13,618
#45. St. Martin Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.8% (908 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.6% (369 homes)
- Total homes built: 23,704
#44. St. Charles Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.4% (695 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (150 homes)
- Total homes built: 20,595
#43. St. Helena Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.6% (191 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,310
#42. Lincoln Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 1.9% (402 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (133 homes)
- Total homes built: 20,650
#41. Pointe Coupee Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.9% (537 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (49 homes)
- Total homes built: 11,044
#40. St. James Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.9% (510 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (55 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,651
#39. Iberville Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.6% (1,016 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.0% (272 homes)
- Total homes built: 13,419
#38. Ouachita Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.1% (2,168 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.9% (601 homes)
- Total homes built: 70,667
#37. East Baton Rouge Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.3% (6,773 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.0% (2,155 homes)
- Total homes built: 205,518
#36. Vermilion Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.8% (1,762 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.2% (310 homes)
- Total homes built: 25,924
#35. Natchitoches Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.1% (1,321 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.0% (190 homes)
- Total homes built: 18,663
#34. St. John the Baptist Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.1% (550 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.9% (157 homes)
- Total homes built: 17,790
#33. Terrebonne Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.6% (2,162 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (352 homes)
- Total homes built: 47,236
#32. Assumption Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.4% (743 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (35 homes)
- Total homes built: 10,039
#31. Lafourche Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.6% (1,902 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (294 homes)
- Total homes built: 41,164
#30. Jefferson Davis Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.9% (838 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (57 homes)
- Total homes built: 14,107
#29. Iberia Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.3% (1,953 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (102 homes)
- Total homes built: 31,215
#28. Red River Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 1.8% (65 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (8 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,599
#27. St. Bernard Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 2.4% (425 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (28 homes)
- Total homes built: 18,004
#26. Rapides Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.5% (2,597 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (620 homes)
- Total homes built: 58,321
#25. Evangeline Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.1% (747 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (158 homes)
- Total homes built: 14,523
#24. Washington Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.1% (1,313 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.9% (191 homes)
- Total homes built: 21,422
#23. Avoyelles Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.2% (1,129 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (207 homes)
- Total homes built: 18,323
#22. LaSalle Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 11.0% (684 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.0% (65 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,203
#21. St. Landry Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 2.9% (1,072 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (168 homes)
- Total homes built: 37,001
#20. Richland Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.4% (296 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.0% (172 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,698
#19. Catahoula Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.5% (199 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,447
#18. Bienville Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.1% (350 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (76 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,874
#17. Jackson Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.5% (398 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (53 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,223
#16. Acadia Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.5% (1,635 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (178 homes)
- Total homes built: 25,036
#15. Allen Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 8.9% (848 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (44 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,543
#14. Winn Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 1.9% (122 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (44 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,372
#13. West Carroll Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 2.6% (120 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,691
#12. Morehouse Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.8% (448 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.9% (103 homes)
- Total homes built: 11,895
#11. Franklin Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.0% (446 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (63 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,937
#10. Concordia Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.2% (289 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (44 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,026
#9. Madison Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.5% (286 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.0% (46 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,388
#8. St. Mary Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.5% (1,468 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (48 homes)
- Total homes built: 22,510
#7. Jefferson Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.0% (5,886 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (688 homes)
- Total homes built: 194,109
#6. East Carroll Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.4% (150 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (13 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,408
#5. Caddo Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.1% (5,750 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (326 homes)
- Total homes built: 112,568
#4. Webster Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 2.7% (504 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (150 homes)
- Total homes built: 18,341
#3. Claiborne Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 2.7% (181 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (53 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,821
#2. Tensas Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 5.1% (144 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (15 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,804
#1. Orleans Parish
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.1% (62,561 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (809 homes)
- Total homes built: 194,758