History

The Mansion was built in two sections by families with very different lifestyles. Henri Chatillon built the first section, a four-room brick farmhouse, in 1848. He was a guide and hunter for the American Fur Company of St. Louis in the 1840's before settling permanently in the area with his second wife, Odile Delor Lux. Chatillon served as a guide for Francis Parkman, Jr. in 1846. Parkman wrote about their trip in his book "The Oregon Trail."

Chatillon sold the "farmhouse" in 1856 to Dr. Nicolas N. DeMenil, a well known physician and part owner of the first chain of drug stores in St. Louis. DeMenil was a wealthy Frenchman. He came to St. Louis in 1834 and married Emilie Sophie Chouteau, who was a descendant of St. Louis' founding family. The DeMenils originally used the home as a summer retreat. In 1861, the DeMenils hired English architect Henry Pitcher to add on the extra rooms and turn the farmhouse into a Greek Revival Mansion. At that time they moved into the home permanently. The addition was completed in 1863.

Three generations of the DeMenil family occupied the home until 1929. From that year until 1945 the Mansion was maintained by caretakers. Lee Hess bought the property in 1945 to develop a tourist attraction based upon the natural system of caves that lie beneath the area. The "Cherokee Caves" were quite popular but the house itself suffered. When Interstate 55 was being planned in the early 1960's the house was going to be torn down. The Landmarks Association decided to buy the land and home from the State of Missouri Highway Commission. They wanted to save the Mansion, because it is one of the only remaining examples of Greek Revival architecture in St. Louis. With a $40,000 gift from Union Electric they bought the house and land. Restoration of the Mansion began in the summer of 1964. Formal dedication of the restored Mansion took place in May 1965. Then the Chatillon-DeMenil Foundation took control of the Mansion.

Structurally, the Mansion today is as the DeMenil family left it in 1929. All the ceiling medallions, marble mantelpieces, front hall parquet foor, and front hall chandelier are original to the house. Most of the furniture is dated between 1830 and 1880, with some original DeMenil pieces. Wallpapers, curtains, and carpets throughout the house are reproductions of original designs.