Joseph Bailly Homestead - Chapel or Summer Kitchen

Chapel or Summer Kitchen

Originally a two-story kitchen, this is where Joseph Bailly and his stepdaughter Theresa de la Vigne died. When the widow Marie Bailly returned in 1855, she chose this building as her home. The outside chimney had fallen and the space closed. She lived here until her death in 1866. From 1866 to 1869 Rose Bailly Howe and her daughters Rose and Frances held Sunday devotions in this building. Mrs. Howe commission a local carpenter to rebuild it into a chapel.

A new brick foundation was laid with wooden sills. Flooring from the kitchen’s second floor was reused for the chapel floor. The interior was plastered and the building completed by 1874. It remained unchanged until 1900 when materials from the main house were used for repairs. Materials from the parlor were used as that is where the family had held devotions before. This is when the apse was added. Whitewood from the parlor ceiling was used on the chapel ceiling. The building may have been moved northward about twenty-five feet.

While the Sisters of Notre Dame used the homestead, they did not use this chapel, but used a front bedroom on the second floor as a chapel. It then remained unused until 1946, when the new owner, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph LaRoche, rented it out as a residence. No additional alterations were made.