In 1974, the National Park Service described the site as follows, based on historical knowledge at the time: Established in the late 18th century by Marie Therese Coincoin, a former slave who became a wealthy businesswoman, the grounds of Yucca Plantation (now known as Melrose Plantation) contain what may well be the oldest buildings of African design built by Blacks, for the use of Blacks, in the country.

The Africa House, a unique, nearly square structure with an umbrella-like roof which extends some 10 feet beyond the exterior walls on all four sides, may be of direct African derivation.

Similar to the Metoyer siblings, many multiracial Creoles became educated property owners, particularly in New Orleans, Opelousas, and the Cane River and Campti areas of Natchitoches.

Although not legally freed by his white father until 1802, Metoyer evaded Louisiana's Code Noir that prohibited enslaved men from being granted land.

The plantation is significant for its long occupancy by the Metoyer family, which was prominent in Isle Brevelle, a strong center of the "Creoles of color" community.

B. L.'s death in 1838,[12] his $112,761 estate (roughly $2,600,000 in 2007 purchasing power [13]) was divided between his young widow Marie-Susanne "Susette" Metoyer [14] and a minor son, neither with any experience in financial matters.

On 22 March 1847, the Louis Metoyer plantation was struck off at $8,340 (~$231,232 in 2023) to the highest bidder, the French Créole brothers Hypolite Hertzog and Henry Hertzog—with the latter acting as agent for his sister Jeanne Fanny (Widow Dassize) Bossier.

In December 1881, the Metoyer-Hertzog-Bossier Plantation (still unnamed at this point) was sold at auction to satisfy an 1879 judgment rendered against Hertzog-Bossier in Louisiana's Fifth District Circuit.

The purchaser, F. R. Cauranneau of New Orleans, held the land and houses as an absentee owner until April 1884, when he found a buyer willing to pay $4,500 (~$128,555 in 2023) cash.

Assessment of remains of European ceramic ware indicates initial occupancy of Yucca House was post-1810, contrary to the 1796 date that historians earlier had proposed.

[10] Real estate broker Robert Andrew Wolf, Jr. (1930–2016) of Alexandria, Louisiana, and his partner, John Wasson designed the current Melrose Plantation structure.