History
The construction of the house spans
two building programs undertaken by families of very different
styles of living, yet each reflecting significant aspects of St.
Louis' French cultural heritage. Henri Chatillon (18 13- 1873)and
his second wife Odile Delor Lux (1 8 10- 1888) completed the
earliest portion circa 1850: a two-story brick house, now comprising
the southwestern section of the building. A guide and hunter for the
American Fur Company (St. Louis), Chatillon was immortalized in The
Oregon Trail by historian Francis Parkrnan (1 823- 1893), a Harvard
educated Bostonian. The book chronicled the western expedition the
two men made together in 1846 during which Chatillon proved a valued
companion and able guide fluent in Sioux Indian languages, French
and English. Parkman gained intimate knowledge of Native Americans
through the family of his guide's first wife, Bear Robe (died 1846),
the daughter of Bull Bear, a prominent Oglala Sioux chief. This
house is the only extant property directly associated with the life
of Henri Chatillon.
The Chatillons sold their house in 1856 to Dr. Nicolas Nicolas
DeMenil (1 812-1882), a physician and pharmacist born and trained in
France. DeMenil came to St. Louis in 1834; two years later he
married Emelie Sophie Chouteau (1 8 13- 1874), a descendant of St.
Louis' founding family. The DeMenils used the Chatillon property as
a summer retreat for a few years before making it their permanent
residence in 1863. Beginning that year, the DeMenils enveloped the
Chatillon house with the addition of the imposing Greek Revival east
facade and adjoining rooms.
Following the deaths of his parents, Alexander Nicolas DeMenil (1
849- 1928) continued toreside in the house to the end of his life.
Alexander pursued an active public life as a lawyer, city
councilman, businessman, civic leader and author. A prolific
contributor to journals, Alexander devoted much of his life to
study. His French heritage and cultural interests gained him a
Directorship at the 1904 World's Fair, where he oversaw the French
exhibit. The third generation of the DeMenil family also grew up in
the home: Henry Nicolas (1 879- 1924), the child from Alexander's
marriage to Lillian Rober (1857-1937), and George Shelley
(1890-1957), the son from his marriage to Bessie Bacon (1855-1935).
DeMenil heirs retained title to the house until 1945 when they sold
to entrepreneur Lee Hess, who capitalized on the natural system of
caves underlying the DeMenil property. Hess developed a popular
tourist attraction, Cherokee Cave Museum, open from 1950 to the
early 1960s when the path of Interstate 55 forced the closure of the
caves and threatened demolition of the DeMenil house. Intervention
from the newly organized Landmarks Association of St. Louis rescued
the house through Union Electric's gift of the $40,000 purchase
price. Restoration work began in 1964; formal dedication took place
in May, 1965 when the house was turned over to the Chatillon-DeMenil
House Foundation.
Architecturally, the house today largely retains its appearance
chiefly from its years of occupation by the DeMenils. All of the
ceiling medallions and marble mantelpieces, as well as the parquet
floor and chandelier in the foyer, are original to the house. Most
of the furniture, including original pieces belonging to the DeMenil
and Chouteau families, dates from circa 1820 to 1880. Wallpaper,
draperies, and carpets throughout the house are are reproductions of
authentic nineteenth century designs.
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DeMenil Mansion, facing hard times, readies 'Death in the family'
By Matthew Hathaway
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/17/2008
Oct. 15, 2008 --Kevin O'Neill removes antique vases from the
mantle in the formal parlor at the Chatillon-DeMenil House to
prepare for a mock Death and Mourning in the 19th Century
presentation this Sunday. (Christian Gooden/P-D)
ST. LOUIS — Volunteers at the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion this week
draped black cloth over its mirrors, portraits and even a ceramic
bust of the goddess Diana.
They're readying the 160-year-old house for a Halloween-time
tradition celebrating the death rituals of Victorian times. While
the mourning is pretend, the mood has been a tad somber lately at
the museum in Benton Park.
"You could almost put crepe over the entire outside, too," said
Kevin O'Neill, the museum's director. "It feels like it's about time
for a funeral for the whole house."
The manse suffers from decades of deferred maintenance, and O'Neill
thinks about $500,000 is needed to correct serious structural
problems — like an off-pitch roof and rotting wood columns — and
establish a maintenance fund to make sure the problems won't return.
The roof is the biggest problem. As the building has settled, part
of the roof has tilted ever so slightly. That has caused it to leak
in some places. In others, rainwater is cascading off the edge of
the roof instead of flowing into downspouts. That water is soaking
the building's Greek Revival pediment and the wooden columns
supporting it. As a result, much of the facade is starting to rot.
Last month, when the remnants of Hurricane Ike soaked the region,
the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion was hard hit. Water leaked through
plaster ceilings, and, in the days after the storm, the house reeked
of mildew, O'Neill said.
Those problems have cast a pall over preparations for Sunday's
fundraising event, dubbed "A Death in the Family: Death and Mourning
in the 19th Century." In other years, making room for the coffin and
decking doors and windows with jet-black wreathes might be a welcome
break from the day-to-day routine. But now — even when planning an
old-fashioned, Victorian seance — it's hard for O'Neill and the
volunteers to keep their spirits up.
The death event has been expanded this year to include the seance,
as well as tarot card reading, gravestone rubbing demonstrations, an
exhibit on 19th-century embalming and — for an additional cost —
lunch at the on-site restaurant.
In past years, the event has brought in about $1,000 — "enough to
stay open a couple more months," O'Neill quipped — but he hopes this
year's death festival will prove more popular.
Henri Chatillon, a trailblazing frontier guide and hunter, built the
house in 1848. Initially a rustic country home, it was transformed
by its second owner, a Dr. Nicolas N. DeMenil. The French physician
was an in-law of the Chouteaus, the first family of early St. Louis.
In 1863, DeMenil expanded the building and turned the farmhouse into
an elegant mansion.
In the 1960s, the house was to be demolished to make room for
Interstate 55. In one of St. Louis preservationists' first big
victories, Landmarks Association of St. Louis — with funding from
Union Electric, now Ameren Corp. — bought the house and saved it.
Nini Harris, a St. Louis historian and author, said the mansion is
one of the highlights of her Cherokee Lemp History Walk she has
conducted in the neighborhood. She said the house offers a glimpse
at how the Creole aristocracy of St. Louis lived in the middle of
the 19th century.
"We have very few sites that are so closely tied to the early French
settlers of St. Louis," said Harris, who also volunteers at the
museum. "I have no doubt that St. Louisans will come forward again
to save it."
The death and mourning event will be from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at
the museum, 3352 DeMenil Place. Admission is $10, and the restaurant
is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For more information,
call 314-771-5828.
Last updated:
Monday, November 24, 2008
