[4] The land was granted by Spain to Thomas Villanueva Barroso[5] who, 10 years later, sold it to Pierre Denis de La Ronde whose son-in-law, Adolphe Ducros, developed it into the Ducros Plantation.

[5][8] Winder expanded the acreage by purchasing adjacent land formerly owned by Thomas Butler and smaller farms.

[3] Martha hired a Louisiana architect named Evens and told him to model the mansion on The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's plantation home in Nashville, Tennessee.

[4] During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the mansion was saved from a fire by Union General Godfrey Weitzel.

[4] Meanwhile, the fields were used as a camping ground by the Confederate States Army and the Unionists.

[11] Old wood with inscriptions about the secession of South Carolina and the presidential run of Stephen A. Douglas in 1860 have been found on the property.