The Oldest House in Missouri Still Stands Strong After 235 Years

What’s thought to be the oldest house in Missouri almost got knocked down to build a gas station!

Luckily, a group of dedicated women took action to preserve not just the structure, but the history it represents.

Find out how old this incredible home is, and how its spirit and stories are being kept alive.

Still Standing

The Louis Bolduc house in Ste. Genevieve is believed to be the oldest house in Missouri. The first part of the house was constructed in 1788. Then the Bolduc family added to it around 1794. That makes the original part of the home 235 years old!

Specifically dating the age of a building is a special science, as you’ll learn shortly.

The Oldest House?

Many believe the Bolduc home to be the oldest in the state. But others think that is still open for debate.

Historian Geoff Giglierano, who is executive director of the nonprofit French Colonial America, which owns the Bolduc house, told A-Z Animals that there is a difference of opinion regarding that title.

“There is some debate,” Giglierano said. Although he chose the Bolduc house when asked, he added, “Not everybody agrees with that.”

The home was originally constructed by merchant Louis Bolduc, for whom it is named.

The town of Ste. Genevieve moved to higher ground right around the time the Bolduc house was going up, Giglierano told us. “It is built in this traditional French Creole style that is very distinctive. It’s the best-restored example of that type of structure.

“There are other houses from that same period, but they have been changed more,” he said. “The Bolduc house has been restored for the most part to what it looked like originally.”

How the Bolduc House Was Saved

Over 70 years ago, the Louis Bolduc home was considered nothing more than an old building taking up space on a piece of land.

The home was on the verge of being torn down to build a gas station in the late 1940s. That was when the National Society of Colonial Dames of Missouri stepped in. Purchasing the property, they set about doing a complete and historically accurate restoration.

Over the next decade, the Bolduc house was renovated with the help of an architect and historians. They made sure the entire makeover was as true to the period as possible.

Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Bolduc home still occupies the exact spot where it was constructed 235 years ago.

“The Dames completely furnished the house with original 18^th and very early 19th-century artifacts that they collected,” said Giglierano. While a few original pieces of furniture — such as Louie’s desk — survived the years, the Dames collected period pieces from all over. They even searched as far as Canada.

“When you go into Louie’s house, it’s as if he just stepped out,” Giglierano said.

The restoration of the Bolduc house also started the preservation movement in that area.

Wood Tells a Story

Being able to accurately date a structure is a relatively new science.

Called dendrochronology, the credit for discovering that growth rings in trees tell a story belongs to Andrew E. Douglas, who perfected the method during the late 1800s.

Douglas, an American astronomer, developed the science of dating not just the age of wood, but weather patterns, glacial movements, and volcanic activity, all by analyzing tree rings. Today, dendrochronology is used around the world. It can accurately date not just trees, but structures, wooden musical instruments, and works of art by analyzing framing material.

That’s how experts were able to date the Louis Bolduc house.

Another home in Ste. Genevieve, the Janis house, has logs that have been dated by dendrochronology back to 1790. Even though the Bolduc house was built with logs dated two years earlier, some still claim the Janis house to be the oldest home in Missouri.

Who Was Louis Bolduc?

Louis Bolduc came from Canada, settling in Missouri around 1760. He first traveled to Illinois. But soon after realizing the benefits of the lead deposits, salt mines, and fertile ground in Missouri, moved to Ste. Genevieve.

“Bolduc was a merchant, he was a businessman. He was important in his community, but he wasn’t famous,” Giglierano told us, adding, “History is more than just leaders and big events.”

Not only is the Bolduc home most likely to be the oldest in Missouri, but it’s also unique in other ways. It’s considered to be the best existing example of a French Creole house.

As our historian told us, it’s a style that comes from Normandy, goes to Canada, and then comes down to Missouri. To accommodate the heat of Missouri summers, wrap-around porches were added — a feature that was adopted from the Caribbean colonies.

From April through December, the French Colonial America campus in Ste. Genevieve offers daily guided tours of the Bolduc house, as well as four other historic homes.

Where is the Bolduc House Located on a Map?

The Louis Bolduc House, also known as Maison Bolduc, is an old house museum in Ste. Geneviève, Missouri, at 123 South Main Street. This location stands as the first European settlement in Missouri.

Here it is on a map: