Treasure lost, or distant hope? The lonely, lovely house on the summit of island at Hodges Gardens

Split level house with wide open spaces and plenty of glass to see the beautiful landscape

In West Central Louisiana, in the middle of a 225-acre man-made lake at a State Park named Hodges Gardens, there stands a remarkable, gigantic house… seeming deserted, empty and lonely. Atop the peak of an island, the house seems to stand proudly as testament to its once glory, and yet simultaneously slouching, a bit ashamed of the shape it is now in.

This house affects me. It has for bunches of years affected me. I realize houses come and houses go… it’s just rather tough to see this particular house and all of its uniqueness and history being let go. With each passing year, I imagine the cost to restore the home increases… to the point now that it would be difficult if even fiscally responsible to restore the old house.

But what a house it was!

Architectural model of Hodges house. Note: The pool was never built. Photo from the Hodges Foundation.

The house built for Hodges Gardens’ founders A. J. and Nona Trigg Hodges, was constructed in the 1950s. It was built on an 8-acre island (called, appropriately, House Island), with its facing being in significant part rocks and sandstones from a rock quarry on top of which Hodges Gardens Lake itself was built. Much of the remaining exterior facing of the house is glass… as there are windows and glass doors galore with brilliant views of the once remarkably landscaped island and the lake itself.

Construction on the house was completed in 1956. Sadly, just three years later, Mr. Hodges’ beloved dear wife, Nona, passed away. She was a woman who from what I hear, every one who had the pleasure of knowing her concluded without hesitation that it was a genuine pleasure to have known her.

After Mrs. Hodges’ death, A. J. Hodges continued to occupy the house until around 1966, after which he made temporary visits there and on occasions, family gatherings were hosted at the house.

The island is entirely bordered by a stone retaining wall. Access to the island from the mainland was via a ferry that ran on an underwater cable and passengers then accessed the house through an underground tunnel which led from the water for a few hundred feet to the house.

The elevation of the top of House Island is close to 30 feet above the water’s edge. The island itself was sparsely wooded, sloping, grassy land.

If this makes any sense, the house kind of blends in with the island. It looks as if it was made for the island and the island for it. Last time I saw the inside of the house, which was many years ago, it actually wasn’t in what I would call awful shape considering it had been abandoned and neglected for more than I’m guessing three decades. There were some areas where water was getting in the house, but these were rather small areas which didn’t seem to leave a lot of damage.

From what I understand, after Hodges Gardens was donated to the State of Louisiana to be operated and maintained as a State Park, the state bore the expense of putting a new roof on the house to protect it from further damage. There was talk that the State would refurbish the house and it would be turned into a visitor’s center for the park.

If only…

I suppose we can hope. But there’s the matter of the State being broke, or at least our leaders saying we are broke. So it isn’t looking so good for Hodges House to be restored. At least not at this time.

The split level Hodges house is easily 10,000 square feet. Probably a good bit more. There is a downstairs and an upstairs. There are a dozen or more bedrooms and bathrooms all equipped with Stone Topped Vanity Units. As I recall, these actually looked really nice considering the time they had been untended to.

The house features an enormous lobby, a central living area, a massive dining room and a porch and a porch kitchen (with many of the commercial sized stainless steel appliances still in place). There is a projection room for movie entertainment and a media room. Servants had their own dressing area, and storage and locker rooms. There is a room dedicated to clothes’ storage. There is a refrigerator room and a freezer room, with a separate closet room for controlling the appliances. There is a gigantic game room, some 20 ft by 80 ft. There is a mechanical room and a dry storage room, as well as a laundry far larger than any other residential laundry room I have ever seen. There is a flower preparation section in the house. There is an office. An auxiliary kitchen is featured, as though the other two are not enough. There is a breakfast room. Some of the bathrooms featured his and hers and dressing closets… in the fifties! There is a dumbwaiter elevator. And a service elevator. And the list goes on and on. And on some more.

What a great something this house would make.

Maybe one day.

If only…