page_title: Architecture of St. Louis
section_title: Residential forms
hierarchical_section_title: Architecture of St. Louis / Residential forms
caption_attribution_description: English: First Courthouse, St. Louis, MO; from a c. 1915 postcard. It would be replaced by the permanent (not rented) courthouse completed in 1833. Also known as The Bienvenue House. This house stood on the northwest corner of Third and Plum streets in St.Louis. Built in 1786 and demolished in 1875, the 20' x 25' house originally had a galerie on all sides and probably a tall pavilion roof. It's ruined condition shows the palisaded wall construction ( poteaux en terre ) characteristic of most eighteenth -century houses in the region. This site is now part of the Gateway Arch grounds.
context_page_description: The architecture of St. Louis exhibits a variety of commercial, residential, and monumental architecture. St. Louis is known for the Gateway Arch, the tallest monument constructed in the United States. Architectural influences reflected in the area include French Colonial, German, early American, European influenced, French Second Empire, Victorian, and modern architectural styles.
context_section_description: The earliest buildings in St. Louis were constructed in the French Colonial style. Although Spain took possession of the Louisiana territory in 1764 via the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762) and the Treaty of Paris (1763) (and defended against a French rebellion in 1768), St. Louis remained largely a refuge for French settlers. Hence, St. Louis remained largely a refuge for French architecture well into the late 18th century. Three distinct types of residential construction existed in early St. Louis, all of which reflected a French influence. The most common was the French Colonial vertical-log house, constructed of palisaded wood beams for walls. Roofs consisted of thatch or wood shingles. According to the St. Louis Preservation Commission, at least two-thirds of St. Louis homes in the late 18th century were of this type.
  The second type was a frame house, usually in the French colonial tradition. Such homes were built in the poteaux sur solle (posts on sill) method, in which a wood frame home was built on a heavy wood sill set atop a masonry and rock foundation. Roofing was similar to the palisaded homes.
  The third style of early St. Louis homes was a rock house. Only the wealthiest St. Louisans might afford a home built entirely of rock walls with a masonry foundation due to the difficulty of construction. The earliest house in St. Louis, the home of Pierre Laclede, was made of rock. Similar to the palisade and post-in-sill homes, rock houses tended to have steeply pitched roofs with a gradual slope on galleries and porches.
caption: Postcard photograph of a building from early St. Louis, showing palisade wall construction
exif: {}