Set among towering live oak trees in New Iberia, Louisiana's historic Main Street District, The Shadows paints a vivid picture of life for the people who lived and worked here. Built on the banks of the Bayou Teche in 1834 for David Weeks and his family, The Shadows was once part of a sugar cane plantation that enslaved over 200 men and women by the start of the Civil War.

Immediately after acquiring The Shadows in 1922, William Weeks Hall guided the stately plantation home through its first major construction project. By the early 1950s, Hall had exhausted what he believed to be his options for preserving the family home, and he began to look for a suitable steward of the estate. The family continued to live in the home until 1958, when William Weeks Hall, great-grandson of the original owner, donated the property to the National Trust.

Shortly thereafter, the National Trust embarked on a series of repair and restoration projects based on an extensive architectural survey, the Weeks Family Papers collection, and other artifacts and home inventories. A rich collection of 17,000 family letters, photographs, and receipts preserved in trunks in the attic provides this Southern plantation house with one of the best documented tour experiences in the country.

The Shadows is owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The first National Trust Historic Site in the Gulf South, The Shadows is a Classic Revival-style home with a Louisiana Colonial floor plan and a garden as breathtaking as the history preserved here.