"The rain fell through the canopy of oaks as I drove down the dirt road along the bayou toward my house. During the summer it rains almost every afternoon in southern Louisiana. From my gallery, around three o'clock, you could watch the clouds build high and dark as mountains . . ."
The words belong to Dave Robicheaux, the Louisiana detective created by crime novelist James Lee Burke. But they could just as easily belong to Hunt Slonem, the celebrated New York artist who now owns Albania Plantation on Bayou Teche and who declares that sitting on its rear gallery is "as good as it gets on the planet."
The Slonem era at Albania, in Jeanerette (Iberia Parish), began several years ago when he bought the Greek Revival house and 10 acres of grounds after its longtime mistress, Emily Cyr Bridges, passed away.
Slonem credits his studies at Tulane University, in the early 1970s under renowned architectural historian Sam Wilson, with beginning his love affair with old Louisiana buildings. His feelings increased over the years as he made many trips to New Orleans to exhibit his artwork in local galleries. On one visit, he got a lead on buying a plantation.
"I got off the plane and my Realtor said, 'We're going to Albania tomorrow, ' " Slonem recalled. "It was love at first sight. The house was everything I craved, right down to the falling plaster. I didn't know how I was going to pay for it, and it needed so much work. But after my first offer was rejected, we eventually worked it out."
By the time Slonem took possession, the storied home's contents -- 50 years worth of Bridges family artwork, antiques and curiosities -- had been auctioned off.
"When I got the house, everything was gone, including the chandeliers. There was nothing but bare light bulbs, three of Miss Emily's dresses hanging in a closet and loads of trash that took 10 truck loads to haul away, " he said.
Via Jerry, Belle Grove
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