[2][3] The complex, containing eight buildings and one structure, and the 10 acres (4.0 ha) they rest upon, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 27, 1980.

Shortly afterwards The Houmas was purchased by Daniel Clark, who began to develop the property and built one of the first sugar mills along this stretch of the river.

In 1811, former American Revolutionary War general Wade Hampton purchased Daniel Clark's land holdings and slaves.

Burnside had increased the acreage to 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) within the span of a few years and built four sugar mills to process his crop.

[6][3] During the war, plans were made to use the plantation house as a headquarters for Union general Benjamin Franklin Butler, who governed New Orleans for about seven months following the city's capture in May 1862.

Burnside, still a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, reputedly prevented this by suggesting that international complications would arise if his estate was seized by Federal authorities.

In the process he stripped off some of the original decorative elements of the interior and exterior to give the house a simpler, "Federal style," look.

Other films shot in part at The Houmas include Mandingo (1975), Fletch Lives (1988), and Love, Wedding, Marriage (2011).

[8][9] Commercials have been shot at the plantation for Budweiser, Virginia Slims, Best Buy, Hibernia National Bank, and the Louisiana Office of Tourism.