The Rip Van Winkle Gardens at New Iberia, Louisiana, can’t help but capture the imaginations of visitors. Indeed, area stories date back to the late 1700s when the area was founded by French, Spanish, and Acadian settlers.
Jefferson Island, home of the Rip Van Winkle Gardens, is located in the Bayou Teche Corridor. The island is named for the internationally recognized actor, Joseph Jefferson, who purchased it as a hunting and fishing preserve in 1869. And the Rip Van Winkle Gardens are named for the character he played on stage over 4500 times!
Linda’s Pick at This Historic Site
I have to confess, first thing, that I’m a big fan of disaster movies. Any kind of disaster movie. So, it’s a given that the story of the Lake Peigneur disaster would grab my interest. Jefferson Island is located adjacent to Lake Peigneur.
Joseph Jefferson built a home on the island that he used when not traveling the world playing Rip Van Winkle. After Jefferson died in 1905, the property was sold. John Lyle Bayless, Jr. developed the gardens in the late 1950s, building a 1/2 acre conservatory under glass. It must have been amazing!
But on to the disaster.
November 20, 1980, started out like any other day. Fifty miners were at work below ground in a salt mine. Locals were out on the lake, fishing. A massive oil rig was conducting an exploratory drilling operation.
Then, the drilling operation went drastically wrong.
Instead of hitting oil, the Texaco company’s 14-inch drill bit hit a salt dome. Alarms sounded. Miners ran for the 1300 ft elevator to the surface.
The oil rig shook. Drillers abandoned it and ran for safety.
As the salt dome disappeared, a whirlpool formed that sucked everything around it into a sinkhole.
Fast Fact: The 11-acre lake, once just 10 feet deep, now had a 1500-foot-deep hole. Trees and 65 acres of land disappeared into it along with oil rigs, buildings, barges, and equipment, all forever gone.
Water from the Gulf of Mexico rushed in after them.
In a mere 40 hours, the shallow freshwater pond turned into a deep salt water lake! All that remained of the new home Bayless had built was a chimney protruding from the water.
First Hand Accounts of the Disaster
You can read a short first-hand account of the disaster on KLFY.com, Acadiana’s local news leader.
Watch a YouTube Video with current and historic photos, along with detailed explanations of the disaster.
What’s at the Rip Van Winkle Gardens & Historic Mansion?
The Rip Van Winkle Gardens and historic mansion were restored to their current state by Mike Richard. He purchased the property and began work on it in 2003, opening it up for garden and house tours. He also added a restaurant, three cottages for overnight stays, and a rookery.
Fast Fact: The historic mansion is surrounded by 350 year-old live oak trees draped in Spanish moss.
Even the trees have history here! Indeed, President Grover Cleveland visited in 1892, and spent time relaxing under the giant oaks. As a result, one was named the Grover Cleveland Oak. Today, it has a girth of 24 feet, 8 inches, and is marked with a plaque.
There are 15 acres of semi-tropical gardens for guests to enjoy. The lush growth is simply amazing. While the annuals, magnolias, camellias, and oaks are indigenous to the area, parts of the gardens are of Asian origin.
While walking through the gardens, I felt like I’d just entered the story of Gulliver in Land of the Giants. Indeed, there were bamboo plants adapted to Louisiana’s climate up to 40 feet tall! The Tropical Blue Bamboo even had canes up to 3.5 inches in diameter.
With its variety of flora and fauna, it’s a given that Rip’s Rookery on the grounds is great for bird watching. In fact, Jefferson Island is home to 260+ species of birds. The most popular? The Spoonbill Roseate.
About the Mansion
The Joseph Jefferson home is a twenty-two room Southern mansion built in 1870. Just one and one-half stories high, it has a belvedere (roofed but open on one or more sides) on the roof and verandas on three sides.
The interior features a central 12 foot main floor wide hall leading to the dining room at the rear. See historical photos of the house here.
However, it may be the supernatural aspects of the house that fascinate many visitors!
Fast Facts: One group of visitors on tour apparently saw a girl in a hallway in the mansion. She walked straight through the wall and vanished! Others have reported flying objects, unexplained sounds of a woman crying, locked doors opening, and more.
Linda’s Road Trip Tips
When you’re visiting the Rip Van Winkle Gardens, do take time to stop at Cafe Jefferson on the grounds. While they specialize in seafood, there’s something on the Cafe Jefferson menu for everyone.
If it’s afternoon coffee time, grab one of the decadent desserts. You can’t beat their bourbon pecan pie!
On our visit of the area, we also spent several hours at Avery Island, eleven miles away. This island is home to the Tabasco hot sauce popular around the world. We took the factory tour and short tour of the TABASCO Museum, along with checking out the 170-acre Jungle Gardens.
And if you’d like to sample local music and dancing at the same time as eating your breakfast (really!), check out Buck & Johnny’s in Breaux Bridge.
Every Saturday morning they offer a Zydeco breakfast with lots of 2-step dancing. It’s really an awesome opportunity to soak up local culture and just 35 miles from Avery Island.
Who Should Visit Rip Van Winkle Gardens?
Rip Van Winkle Gardens are a great stop if you’re looking for Cajun experiences in Louisiana. Iberia Parish, where it’s located, is part of the Lafayette metropolitan area. The Acadiana region of this area is the largest population and economic corridor between Houston, TX, and New Orleans, LA.
And of course, for those who love the lush foliage of the deep south, the gardens have lots to offer.
For families, there’s lots of rooms for the kids to get out and enjoy nature.
As well as gardens, there’s also the historic Jefferson home.
The house is intriguing for those interested in architecture.
While it has common elements with plantation homes, it’s designed in the Moorish Revival and Gothic Revival architectural styles.
We spent a couple of hours on our visit.
How Do You Visit Rip Van Winkle Gardens?
The Rip Van Winkle Gardens and historic Jefferson Mansion are situated in New Iberia on Jefferson Island. It’s situated on US90.
Parking: There's lots of free parking at Rip Van Winkle Gardens.
Address: 5505 Rip Van Winkle Road, New Iberia, Louisiana, USA.
The Rip Van Winkle Gardens & Historic Mansion are open year-round, seven days a week, except for a few statutory holidays.
Check the Rip Van Winkle Gardens website for hours and admission costs.
Check out the Rip Van Winkle Gardens Facebook page for the latest news on what’s happening.
Watch a YouTube video from Rip Van Winkle Gardens.
Plan your visit using Google maps.
More Things to Do in Louisiana
Check out all of guide2museum.com’s reviews of museums in Louisiana.
Read More Historic Home Museums Reviews
- Historic Home of 1800s Governor in Lafayette, LA: Alexandre Mouton
- Adams Museum in Deadwood: Where Legends are Larger Than Life
- Bishop’s Palace in Galveston, Texas: Victorian Era Castle
- Rip Van Winkle Gardens & Historic Mansion: Jefferson Island, Louisiana
- The Sheriff’s House Museum & Historic Site: A Hidden Gem in Devils Lake, North Dakota
- Campbell House Museum – 1820s Toronto, Ontario
- Hearst Castle: National Historic Landmark in San Simeon, California
- Oak Alley Plantation: Grand Dame of Louisiana’s River Road
- Evergreen Plantation: National Landmark Site in Edgard, Louisiana
- Casa Loma: Historic 98 Room House Museum in Toronto, Ontario
Reference(s)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service. (June 4, 1973). National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination form for Rip Van Winkle House and Gardens. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/3108ecac-93ad-47df-9018-be1516f04ef2
Zeller, M.E. (May 23, 2011). Rip Van Winkle Gardens. Here4Now. https://here4now.typepad.com/here4now/louisiana-history/page/2/
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