A
fund has been established to erect a sign on Florisant road
at the campus entry to make it easier for visitors to find
the historic home. The sign is necessary as Taille de Noyer
is surrounded by McCluer High School Campus and therefore
hidden from the passerby. Please mark your check for the Paint
and Sign 'Fund and mail your tax deductible donations to F.V.H.S.
P.O Box 298, Florissant MO 63032.
The
Florissant Valley Historical Society is housed in the elegant
Taille
de Noyer House. Taille de Noyer is an historic antebellum home
with stately pillars across the front veranda and is believed
to be one of the oldest remaining homes in St. Louis County.
The oldest section, a two-room log cabin used as a fur trading
post, dates back to 1790.
It
was built by a French trader in a 350 acre walnut grove on the
end of the Commons of Florissant. Through the years, its occupants
saw the countryside change from wilderness to the well populated
city of Florissant, the sixth largest community in the state
of Missouri.
Moved
from its original site in 1960 by the Florissant Valley Historical
Society, the aristocratic structure perhaps appears a little
aloof from the modern interstate highway on which cars speed
by close to its main entrance.
The
original log cabin, purchased in 1805 by John Mullanphy, an
early merchant and trader and St. Louis' first millionaire,
grew through the years during which it served as the home of
five generations of the Mullanphy family.
Born
in Ireland about 1758, Mullanphy and his wife, Elizabeth, came
to America in 1792, and lived in Philadelphia, Baltimore and
Frankfort, Kentucky, before arriving in St. Louis. Here he opened
a store on Second Street, and began acquiring real estate...the
two room trading post constructed of rough hewn logs being one
of his first acquisitions. He used it as his hunting lodge.
Mullanphy
loved the wilderness and Florissant, which he hoped would be
chosen as the seat of Missouri's government. He offered to build
a courthouse for the state offices and legislature. While this
offer was rejected, Mullanphy did much for St. Louis, and built
the first hospital west of the Mississippi River.
Taille
de Noyer is a last reminder of the country life of the early
nineteenth century. The original cabin was given by Mullanphy
to his daughter, Jane, and her husband, Charles Chambers, in
1817, to lure them back from New York after thier marriage.
They bagan expanding the house in 1819 and took up residence
in 1820. Thier house, a bit more pretentious than the original
cabin, was furnished almost completely with family heirlooms.
The
Chambers had 17 children, and Taille de Noyer grew with the
family until it became a stately mansion of 22 rooms, each with
beautiful fireplaces of brick probably made at the site. Another
major addition was a summer kitchen near the main house, a favorite
gathering place for the Chambers' sons.
One
hundred and forty years of continuous occupancy by heirs of
John Mullanphy ended late in 1960 when the property was acquired
by the Ferguson-Florissant School District for expansion of
McCluer High School. While the summer kitchen and terrace of
hand-made brick were sacrificed, the Florissant Historical Society
arranged for preservation of the historic home and raised funds
to move the structure 200 yards to a new location.
Members
of the Historical Society, enraptured by the beauty and rich
lore about the house, began restoration with limited funds and
donations of time and materials from labor groups, civic organizations,
local business interests as well as school children.
Two
bedrooms upstairs and two rooms in the newer wing downstairs
were opened to the public in December, 1965. A year later two
additional bedrooms and a nursery were restored and furnished.
Restoring an historic building is a continuous and never ending
project. Even after all the rooms are open to the public, the
process of refurnishing and acquiring will continue for generations
to come. A museum and country store were established in the
basement where rough-hewn original logs are visible to visitors.
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