(Khi Oak and Theriot Plantation Home are located at 3266 LA Hwy. 308 – 3 miles north of Raceland (toward Thibodaux) on LA Hwy. 308, or 12.5 miles from Thibodaux driving south. The Khi Oak is likely to be the largest oak on the property – which is the oak in the right foreground of the below photo.)

The Theriot Plantation Home was built in 1891 by Alexander L. Theriot (pronounced tear-ee-oh). He was the son of Paul Justilien Theriot, who owned several plantations in the area, including the Home Place and Scudday Plantations. The Theriot home replaced an older residence at the location that was destroyed by fire.

Khi Oaks and front gate of Theriot Plantation

There’s a bit of mystery associated with the name, Khi Oak.  A study of the home and property done by the Lafourche Heritage Society stated that it’s unclear whether the Wilsons intended the name “Khi Oak” to represent the entire grove of oaks on the property of just a single oak. All that’s known today is that William W. and Melva Wilson purchased the plantation home in 1971 and registered one oak with the Live Oak Society named “Khi Oak” with a size, at the time, of 18 ft. 7 in. in girth. Though, they also erected a wrought-iron gate at the entrance to their home that reads “Khi Oak.”

Oaks and Theriot Plantation Home, view from north front corner

According to the Wilsons’ son, his parents came up with the name “Khi” oak from the name of his college fraternity. However, the Greek letter in question would be “Chi,” the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet. It is also pronounced “Ki” with a long “i” like sky. So the Khi Oak name was possibly a simple misspelling. Whatever the case, there is a beautiful group of oaks surrounding the historic Theriot Home, and the home has been carefully restored by the current owners.

This post is from the Lafourche Live Oak Tour – which is created through the generous support of the Bayou Lafourche Convention & Visitors Bureau. View more of this blog site and share it with friends at www.liveoaktour.com.