Archambault House | |
Location | 603 Rue St. Denis, Florissant, Missouri |
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Coordinates | 38°47′43″N 90°19′29″W / 38.79528°N 90.32472°W |
Area | 0.6 acres (0.24 ha) |
Built | 1850 |
Architectural style | Federal |
Part of | St. Ferdinand Central Historic District (ID79003647) |
MPS | St. Ferdinand City MRA (AD) |
NRHP reference No. | 76002178[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | May 13, 1976 |
Designated CP | September 12, 1979 |
The Archambault House is a transitional Federal style house that was built circa 1850 in Florissant, Missouri. It is notable for its intact outbuildings which are some of the finest remaining in Florissant.[2] It was the home of Auguste Archambault, a French-Canadian mountain guide who worked with many other American explorers, traders, and mountain men of the West such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, and John C. Frémont.[3][4] The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a St. Louis County Landmark.
In 1848, after the Mexican-American War, Auguste Archambault was invited by an acquaintance, Antoine Tesson to come to his hometown of Florissant, Missouri.[5][2] Archambault had served under Frémont in the California Battalion.[5] While in Florissant was introduced to Amanda Peira, a descendant of an early settler of the town, whom he married later that year.[5] Archambault subsequently left to help guide Howard Stansbury's expedition to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.[5] Upon his arrival back from this expedition he met his firstborn son, Auguste Jr., and began construction of a new house on what was then the Florissant Commons, land held by the village for farming with each village property owner owning individual tracts.[5] The Archambault family never lived in the house for very long periods of time especially due to Auguste's transient career as a fur trader and guide.
In 1858 the land the house was on was transferred to Joseph and Virginia Brand the in-laws of Auguste Archambault Jr.[6][7] For many years after the house was used a residence before the Archdiocese of St. Louis came into possession of the house.[7] They in turn sold it a year later to the city of Florissant under whose ownership in the 1970s a time when it was threatened with demolition.[7] It was purchased by the city of Florissant with a $20,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development which was matched by Historic Florissant Inc.[5] As a result of this agreement, in 1981 after the restoration was complete Historic Florissant refunded the grant to the federal government and gained ownership of the house, which is currently a private residence.[5]
This two-story Federal style house was built of brick on a limestone foundation. The house itself is a transitional one architecturally featuring Greek Revival and early Victorian features such as the boxed cornice with brackets.[7] The main portion of the house dates from the 1850s while the one-story brick kitchen wing of the house dates from the 1880s.[7] It has a stone cellar underneath the rear kitchen wing of the house with a dirt floor.[6] The most notable feature of the property is that it has five intact outbuildings: a wood-frame summer kitchen, well house, two sheds, and a brick privy.[7] Of these the most significant are the well house and brick privy. Both have French provincial roofs and the privy has three seats and is plastered on the interior.[7]
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1] It was also included as a contributing building in the 1979 listing of the St. Ferdinand Central Historic District.[8]