During the early 1700s, French colonists settled in the Mississippi Valley, especially in Louisiana. They learned building practices from the Caribbean and the West Indies to design practical dwellings for a territory prone to flooding.
The Destrehan Plantation House near New Orleans illustrates the French Colonial style.
 
French Colonial architecture has many of these features:
 
timber frame with brick or "bousillage" (mud combined with moss and animal hair)
wide hipped roof extends over porches
thin wooden columns
living quarters raised above ground level
wide porches, called "galleries"
no interior hallways
porches used as passageway between rooms
french doors (doors with many small panes of glass)