Louisiana
What’s the connection between Zemurray Lodge and New Orleans? Curious Louisiana investigates.
Zemurray Lodge and Gardens, a historic property built on 20th century banana wealth, is situated north of Lake Pontchartrain. One reader wants to know its connection with the city of New Orleans.
Sam Zemurray, the money behind the home, is a name well-known in Latin American political history.
“He was considered one of the richest and most powerful people in the United States, a man shrouded with international mystery who overthrew governments, orchestrated coups and had government agreements amended to meet his business needs,” the ANU Museum of the Jewish People website states.
A portrait of Sam Zemurray by artist Maddie Stratton of Where Y’Art, as commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune for its “300 for 300” celebration of New Orleans’ tricentennial. (NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Zemurray, a Russian Jewish immigrant, helped popularize banana consumption across the United States while also exploiting workers and causing far-reaching political instability in Latin America. He got his start selling bananas in Mobile before coming to New Orleans in 1905, where he began expanding companies and consolidating a hold on the fruit market.
He was first the founder of the Cuyamel Fruit Company in New Orleans, then served as president of the United Fruit Company — one of the biggest companies in the world at the time, and one that has a massively influential and controversial history. Today, the company is known as Chiquita Brands International.
One part of his legacy on the city, where he spent large portions of his life, is his mansion at No. 2 Audubon Place, which was donated to Tulane University after his death in 1961.
The home at No. 2 Audubon Place is seen in a photo taken around 1910, just two years after its completion and more than a half century before its red brick exterior was painted a light ivory, as it is today. Built for lumberman William T. Jay, it was for much of the 20th century home to United Fruit President Samuel Zemurray.
Zemurray Lodge and Gardens, near Hammond, was bought by Zemurray in 1928. In his account of banana company history, “Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World,” Peter Chapman characterized the home as a place where Zemurray could relax.
“In Louisiana he could walk out through the antebellum columns of his home and stroll around his lake that mirrored the cast-bronze statues at its edge,” Chapman wrote. “Zemurray had a hunting lodge in the pine woods and shot quail.”
The estate’s nomination for the National Register of Historic Places described the history of the place as one of the earliest settled areas in Tangipahoa Parish.
Scenes of Zemurray Gardens in Loranger Wednesday, Mar. 17, 2004.Mar. 5, 2004. Yellow swallowtail butterfly on a Gulf Pride azalea flower. (Staff archive photo by Chuck Cook) ORG XMIT: NOLA2017060710580350
Planter and lawyer Alfred Hennen built the house in 1829, and the property was inherited by his daughter and son-in-law, who sold it to the Lake Superior Piling Company of Chicago in 1918. Company President Charles Houlton, alongside his brother, added interior decoration and colonnades, among other improvements.
When it came into the Zemurray family’s possession, Zemurray’s wife, Sarah, had rows of azaleas and camellias planted along the forest trails. She expanded the gardens and created a two-acre lake, called Mirror Lake. Sarah Zemurray also installed replicas of classical statues.
Under the guidance of New Orleans architect Moise Goldstein, the house’s exterior was covered with stucco, Doric columns were added, and two cottages and stables were installed.
Zemurray Lodge near Loranger in 1930s. (Times-Picayune archive photo)
Interior designer George Gallup decorated in the Arts and Craft style — one that focuses on natural materials. The then-popular decorating style turned away from industrialization to emphasize nature-inspired motifs and quality craftsmanship. Inside the lodge, wainscoting, painted foliage and medieval-esque beamed ceilings showcased the trend.
“As far as the State Historic Preservation Office is aware, these interiors represent the most complete and elaborate example of Arts and Crafts interior design to be found in an eight parish area known collectively as the Florida Parishes,” read the National Register of Historic Places nomination form. “ … There is no other example of Arts and Crafts interior design known to the State Historic Preservation Office in the Florida Parishes which is even comparable to Zemurray Lodge.”