By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

VACHERIE – A unique exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., profiling iconic American houses will feature a home familiar to most residents and tourists throughout the River Parishes.

The “big house” at Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie is one of 14 famous homes from across the country to be featured in the museum’s “House and Home” exhibit, which opened April 28. Scale models of the homes, which range from row houses to historic mansions, are the centerpieces of the exhibit, which includes photos, life-size wall frames and nearly 200 quintessential household objects.

“To be considered in the same company with such prestigious homes as Monticello and Mount Vernon is truly an honor,” said Oak Alley Foundation Executive Director Zeb Mayhew. “There is a varied history behind all of the homes in this exhibit.”

Debra Mayhew, marketing director for Oak Alley, explained that the exhibit focuses on homes and architectural methods that impacted the way people lived and worked. She said many of the architectural elements found on the Oak Alley “big house” can be found on many other private homes across the south.

“People built and rebuilt houses that look like it,” she said. “The symmetry with the columns and the windows are common elements of new homes.”

For more information on the National Building Museum, check out www.nbm.org.