Ghana House

Ghana House is a simple log cabin of a type common in the region, and its African-sounding name comes from the early twentieth century, not from any African origin. After Joseph Henry died in 1899, his son John Hampton Henry and daughter-in-law Cammie Garrett Henry made it a gathering place for writers and artists. The Park Service lists William Faulkner, Lyle Saxon and William Spratling among their guests. Melrose is now a National Historic Landmark.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Melrose Plantation — steps away
  The Cane River estate built on land granted to Louis Metoyer, son of Marie Thérèse Coincoin, with the Yucca House and African House, later an artists' retreat; guided tours Thursday to Sunday.
• St. Augustine Church, Isle Brevelle — 0.6 mi
  The parish church at the heart of the Cane River Creoles of color, begun by Augustin Metoyer on his family's land and still holding Mass for the community that grew from Marie Thérèse Coincoin's children.
• Cane River Creole National Historical Park — 4.9 mi
  Oakland and Magnolia, two Cane River cotton plantations kept as they stood, told through the enslaved families who worked them, the 1864 and 1804 freedom seekers and the tenant farmers who stayed into the 1960s.
• Kisatchie National Forest: Longleaf Vista — 8.8 mi
  A free ridge-top overlook and 1.5-mile loop above the 8,700-acre Kisatchie Hills Wilderness on the Longleaf Trail Scenic Byway, in the forest Caroline Dormon helped win in 1930.

More markers nearby

• Clementine Hunter Home and Studio — steps away
• African House and Clementine Hunter's Murals — steps away
• Big House — steps away
• Yucca House — steps away