Location Information
(for the Elmwood Manor)
Name:Elmwood Manor
Address:902 Beach Boulevard, North
City/County:Bay St. Louis, Hancock County
Architectural Information
Construction Date:c.1828
No. of Stories:2.5
Destroyed:Aug. 29, 2005 (Hurricane Katrina)
Registration Information
    MPS:Historic Resources of Bay St. Louis
View National Register Nomination Form
Context/Comments
When it was documented by MDAH in the 1980s, "Elmwood Manor" was one of the earliest extant buildings in Bay St. Louis. Completed about 1828, it was a significant example of the French Colonial tradition of architecture on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In 1980 the house was to have been included in a small proposed National Register historic district (separate from the nearby Beach Boulevard Historic District), but that proposed district was not listed. Elmwood Manor was subsequently proposed for nomination to the National Register individually in 1986 (as one of several nominations for properties in Bay St. Louis prepared by MDAH architectural historian Susan Enzweiler), but the owner objected, so it was processed for a Determination of Eligibility instead. It received a formal Determination of Eligibility (DOE) from the National Register office in November 1986.

The house was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005.
Brief Description
Elmwood Manor was a 5x4 bay, two-and-one-half story, brick building with a hip roof and front and rear, two tier, undercut galleries. The first story galleries had brick pillars while the second story galleries had wooden columns resting on slender, wooden pedestals. A simple wooden balustrade adorned the second story front gallery. The three central bays of the front facade contained doors with multi-light transoms on both the first and second stories. The predominant window form was 12/12 double hung sash. The hipped roof was pierced by gabled dormers with recessed, round-arched windows and engaged colonnettes.
Historic Information
This two-story, double-galleried house was supposedly begun before 1812 and completed in 1828, though claims have been made for an earlier date. Louis Alexis Lassassier acquired this property through a Spanish land grant. The land passed into the possession of his widow, Melite Macarty Lassassier, in 1823 and she sold it to Jesse Cowand in 1826-1829. Cowand died in 1852 and his widow, Elizabeth, resided at Elmwood Manor until the Civil War. As far as can be determined, there is no record as to when or why the name Elmwood Manor was attached to this building.