pierre menard home

During our stay in the St Louis area we visited many historic, French colonial homes on both banks of the Mississippi, but all felt our tour of the Menard house was the best. The home is fairly well signposted. Go past the turning for Fort Kaskaskia and take a right. We could immediately see that the architecture is different to that in Ste Genevieve, as the house is raised up in a style reminiscent of colonial houses along the southern Mississippi. They are only open Wednesday to Sunday and even then you might need to look around for the guide to open up the place. We found her in the garden and she took us to the cellar first for a brief video. The guide then gave us a wonderful tour of the house, which is full of original family furniture. She took great pleasure in pointing out the key family heirlooms as well as recounting the family history. We were able to take photos throughout. The gardens and outbuildings are also worth visiting. The house is full of history and beautiful furniture, the setting is impressive and the guide was very welcoming. We could not have asked for more.

We really enjoyed our visit here. Had a great tour guide, learned lots of history, and would recommend it highly.

By Kaskaskia State Park near Chester, IL, this old homestead features gardens, a summer kitchen and spring house, etc. One can imagine the political figures in early Illinois history coming and going from this home. It was not open the day we were there, but still it was worth a visit.