Indian Camp Plantation, the most important single architectural feature of the hospital complex at Carville, stands facing River Road at the entrance to the grounds. Constructed in 1859 for sugar planter Robert C. Camp, it was designed and built by New Orleans architect Henry Howard, who also built Nottoway Plantation across the Mississippi River. Designed for ease of living and frequent entertaining, the raised cottage style mansion features a central mass with a double gallery and flanking two-story wings; the first floor was used for plantation offices and storage, while the second floor was the principal living area. Its facade is well detailed with Corinthian column capitals fashioned from leaf and scroll motif, and at the time of construction there was most certainly a staircase in front leading from the second-floor gallery to the ground. When the Daughters of Charity arrived in 1896 to care for leprosy patients, the structure was generally dilapidated, if not abandoned, and they found only two rooms habitable, which they converted into a dormitory and community room. After the State of Louisiana purchased the site in 1905, the plantation underwent substantial restoration, and it was repaired again after a major hurricane struck Carville in 1909. In 1921 the federal government purchased the hospital, which became the National Leprosarium, and the plantation was renovated as the center of administrative activities, providing staff with medical, dining, and recreation areas while continuing to house the Daughters of Charity until they moved next door in 1941. Indian Camp Plantation continues as the administrative hub of the Carville Historic District.