Hours:
Open 10am-5pm, Monday-Saturday
1pm-5pm Sunday
Closed Christmas Day, New Years Day, Thanksgiving, and Easter
Admission charged

For additional information, write or call Kate Chopin House - Bayou Folk Museum
243 Hwy 495
Cloutierville, Louisiana 71416
Phone: 318-379-2233
Contact: Amanda Chenault

The Kate Chopin Home in Cloutierville was established in 1965 by Mildred McCoy as the Bayou Folk Museum and is now owned by the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches. The house was built by Alexis Cloutier in early 1800s. It's located on Hwy 1, twenty miles south of Natchitoches, LA.

This is wonderful place to explore, especially if you are interested in life in the Cane River area or in the works of Kate Chopin.

Kate Chopin was a 19th-century writer who was strong-willed and independent, but also a loving mother and wife. Her husband, Oscar, encouraged her uncoventional nature. When his business failed, they moved to the Cane River area. When he died and left Kate with six children under 12, she took over the family farm and store for almost a year before moving back with her family in St. Louis. In 1889, she published her first poem. Her work was later published in Vogue and Harper's Young People. In 1899, she published The Awakening, a very controversial novel about a women's sexuality and desires of self-fulfillment.

The book made such an impact that it was condemned in certain cities, and many friends shunned her. She died in 1904 an almost forgotten writer. Recently, however, people have take more interest in her work, and she is now considered a great American writer.

If you are a fan of literary history, this is a must-see. I absolutely love this place and recommend it to all local history buffs and literary lovers.