Historic District
Ratcliff House
The Ratcliff House, also known as the Ratcliff-deBretton-Benda House, was built a year after an earlier house on the property was destroyed in the Zachary fire of 1903. The original owner, Charles Ratcliff, was a self-made man who arrived in Zachary in 1888. The first house was built on property purchased by Ratcliff’s wife, Sue Julia Loudon Ratcliff, in 1901 with money she inherited from her mother. The Ratcliff’s built the present house, a two-story residence with a five-bay façade. In 1917, it was sold to Annie and Adollhus deBretton, who lived there until 1945. A later owner ran the home as a boarding house. The present owners are Angie and Jonathan Benda, who have lived there for 18 years.
