Architecture of St. Louis, Missouri - Residential Forms

Residential Forms

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.