Since 2020 numerous practitioners have been engaged to research and reveal Live Oak’s history.

Archaeological excavation has revealed a potential 1835 homestead site; and cultural landscape analysis and fieldwork have uncovered the likely Tunica Trace / Old Angola Cut route through the site. Analysis and conservation on the Main House, paired with historical research by partners at LSU, have deepened our understanding of this property as a working landscape during its plantation era.

This research has guided the following site work: reveal the historic fields and related windbreaks, maintenance paths, and viewsheds; remove modern vehicle access from the Oak Allée; conserve the historic Main House and restore its surrounding landscape; stabilize the loess soils and bluff; remove invasive plant species; reveal larger portions of the Tunica Trace / Old Angola Cut; and remove manmade ponds from the ravine.

Several projects and practices have been deployed on site to improve the overall ecological health of the property after centuries of extractive and profit-driven management. From 2022-2024, invasive plants were carefully removed from Live Oak’s woodlands, allowing light to filter down to the forest floor and leading to new growth of native groundcover, as well as revealing key cultural landmarks such as the historic Tunica Trace / Old Angola Cut.

Removing the contemporary vehicular drive along the Oak Allée is reducing soil compaction and supporting tree longevity. Slight changes to topography around the Main House have mitigated dangerous bluff erosion by directing water toward the fields instead of the bluff.

Returning artificial ponds to naturally occurring wetlands has improved water management, reduced erosion, and provided habitat for native woodland species. Incorporating traditional management practices like controlled seasonal burning is revitalizing native plant communities and suppressing invasive species.

Over the past few years, more than 60 acres of former plantation fields have been converted to meadows. These feature over 100 species of grasses, perennials, and forbs which originally grew and evolved in southeast Louisiana or nearby Louisiana prairies, before the land was used for plantations.

These native plants have greatly increased biodiversity on site, supporting native pollinators, beneficial insects, birds, and small mammals that rely on them for habitat and as food sources. The biomass and root systems of the plants are actively improving soil health and water permeation into groundwater systems.

Seasonal burning for the meadows is a key management practice that mimics natural fire patterns that these meadow species rely on for continued propagation and weed suppression.

Samples from the Main House’s exterior brick show that they were originally coated with a flat, red-brown wash, and mortar joints were lined with white pencilling — indicating likely influence from Anglo building styles farther north. Later, in the 1830s and 40s, the exterior was painted white with a lime-based coating.

Excavation of the front porch revealed that an earlier entrance porch from 1810 was about 10”-12” lower than the current porch.

Interior paint research reveals that many parts of the house were painted with detailed faux finishes, from mantels and wainscoting in primary rooms like the parlor, to secondary areas including a small narrow closet under this service stair.

Research is ongoing to understand why such unusual highly decorative painting was featured in this house, and especially in areas such as the closet underneath the service stairs which would not have been regularly seen by the home’s residents or visitors.

Paint from doors, windowsills, walls, wainscoting, and mantels was sampled and analyzed at 100x magnification, with visible light (VIS) and UV light (UV), showing the previous layers of paint.

Historical records indicate that while the home has been primarily domestic in nature, at times it has been unoccupied and at others it has even hosted a post office.