Rural Missouri - August 2011 - (Page 29)

Top left: Tim Conley, chairman of the house tour committee for the Lions Club of Ste. Genevieve, stands outside the Government House he has been renovating since November 2009. Top right: The Green Tree Tavern, completed from 1790 to 1791, is the least altered of any French Colonial house in Ste. Genevieve, according to Conley. Bottom left: The St. Gemme Beauvais/Amoureux House was built in 1792 to overlook the agricultural fields of Ste. Genevieve. Bottom right: House tour guests are welcome to visit chef and owner Yvonne Lemire’s cooking school, Rosemary and Thyme, located in a separate outbuilding in the Vital St. Gemme Beauvais courtyard. Tour of four Ste. Genevieve historic homes to benefit local Lions Club N Department of Natural Resources, the St. Gemme Beauvais/Amoureux House (circa) 1792 will be open free of charge to the public. According to Tim Conley, chairman of the house estled in Ste. Genevieve is a collection tour committee for the Lions Club of Ste. Genevieve, of some of the oldest French vertical participants will be allowed to walk through the log houses in North America. Founded houses, and a docent will be stationed in each room in 1749, Ste. Genevieve has managed to answer questions. Upon leaving the house, they to preserve the history of some of its oldest will be free to wander through the gardens at the architectural treasures. Government House and tour the cooking school On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. in the courtyard of the Vital St. Gemme Beau13-14, visitors are offered the vais House. opportunity to tour four of Ste. Conley believes that people will be Genevieve’s 18th-century historic homes interested in the Government House, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All proceeds from which is served by the Citizens Electric ticket sales from the event will go to Ste. Genevieve • Corp., because it’s “the most historic benefit the Lions Club of Ste. Genevieve. residence in the Louisiana Territory, “We are very excited about being the and the detail in the items within the beneficiary of the house tour ticket sale,” house reflects that time period. says Jack Donze, president of the Lions “It required early pieces, such as artwork that Club of Ste. Genevieve. “We will use the proceeds reflected Missouri/Upper Louisiana Territory to help pay for and develop the newly acquired history,” Conley says. “Some of the pieces within property addition to our Lions Club Park located in the house I have collected over the past 40 the heart of the historic district.” years, and others were specifically acquired for The four homes on the tour include the Government House.” Government House, home of the last commandant, According to Conley, the Green Tree Tavern is Jean Baptiste Valle’ (circa) 1793; the Green Tree Missouri’s oldest residence. “Ten years after the Tavern, home of Nicholas Janis (circa) 1790; and the home’s construction from 1790 to 1791, Janis’ son, Vital St. Gemme Beauvais House (circa) 1792. The Francois, inherited the house and converted the fourth home, in special agreement with the Missouri by Caitlyn Emmett cemmett@ruralmissouri.coop western half of the main level into a lodging area and the house’s basement into a tavern,” he explained. The Vital St. Gemme Beauvais House was constructed in 1792. “Henry M. Brackenridge, son of a Pittsburgh judge, was sent by his father to live with the Beauvais family when he was only 10,” Conley says. “Brackenridge’s later memoirs of everyday life in Colonial Ste. Genevieve have remained a valuable resource for historians ever since.” Guests also are invited to tour chef and owner Yvonne Lemire’s cooking school, Rosemary and Thyme, which is located in a separate outbuilding in the Vital St. Gemme Beauvais courtyard. In 1792, Jean Baptiste St. Gemme Beauvais Jr. built the St. Gemme Beauvais/Amoureux House. A unique aspect of the house Conley points out is “the house has vertical log walls, made of cedar, that are set directly into the earth without a foundation and is one of three such structures in Ste. Genevieve and one of only five surviving examples of this type of construction in the United States.” Tickets are $20, but if purchased online prior to the end of the business day on Aug. 5, the price is discounted to $15.75. To purchase tickets, visit www.visitstegen.com and click on the icon for “The 18th Century House and Garden Tour.” Children 12 years old and under are free if accompanied by an adult. AUGUST 2011 29 http://www.visitstegen.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - August 2011

Rural Missouri - August 2011
Comments
Columns
Stop and smell the barbecue
2011 Missouri Youth Tour
The fight on Bloody Hill
Missouri snapshots
Out of the Way Eats
Eight seconds to win
Hearth and Home
News Briefs
Touring history
Marketplace
Around Missouri
Neighbors
Just4Kids

Rural Missouri - August 2011