In Louisiana, with our intense summers, our trees are as much a part of our architecture as our houses. Not only do they provide shade, but a live oak this size buffers the house from hurricane winds and carries the wind over the house.
This is Seven Sisters Oak, the National Champion and President of the Live Oak Society, with a waistline of more than 38 feet and believed to be at least 1200 years old by foresters. Even though the house is a large two story structure, it is dwarfed by the tree. Architecture by God and Man.