Boudreaux bought a Spanish land grant about two miles south of Thibodaux along Bayou Lafourche in 1785.

In 2021, the plantation sustained extensive damage during Hurricane Ida and lost more than a dozen of the original buildings.

[2] With about 40 original structures remaining, it is the largest surviving 19th- and 20th-century sugar plantation complex left in the United States,[3] and it is still a working sugarcane farm.

[2] The general store on the property is open to the public, displaying tools and farm implements used in the cultivation of sugar cane as well as locally made arts and crafts.

[1] Download coordinates as: The historic 1,230 acres (500 ha) district comprises about 80 buildings and structures dating from c.1850 to c.1910:[4][5] Several movies have been filmed at Laurel Valley, including Angel Heart, Crazy in Alabama, A Gathering of Old Men, Interview with the Vampire, A Lesson Before Dying, Double Exposure: The Story of Margaret Bourke-White, and Ray.The Depeche Mode Music Video "Freelove" was also filmed on the plantation.