Louis Bolduc House - Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 37° 58.724 W 090° 02.583
15S E 759715 N 4207581
Historically restored French colonial house listed as a National Historic Landmark located in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.
Waymark Code: WM87B2
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 02/13/2010
Views: 5
The Louis Bolduc house was originally built in 1770 out near the Mississippi River on the Le Grand Champ field by Louis Bolduc, a Canadian lead miner, merchant and planter. Following the great flood of 1783 the house was disassembled and moved to its present location in 1784.
The house is a great example of the "poteaux sur sole" or "posts on a sill" construction, large oak timbers set vertical with about a 6" spacing on stone foundation. The vertical timbers are in-filled with "bouzillage", a mixture of mud, Spanish moss, straw and animal hair. The roof is held up by a structure of of king post trusses held together with mortise and tenon joinery. The building is surrounded by a heavy log picket fence which was typical for the time to keep roaming pigs and other animals away from the house.
Louis Bolduc was born in the parish of St. Joachim, Canada, on December 24, 1734, the son of Zacharie Bolduc and Jeanne Meunier. He came to Ste. Genevieve in the 1760s. He was a prosperous lead miner, merchant and planter in early Ste. Genevieve and moved from the original town to the new town in about 1790. He lived in the house until his death in 1815. The house remained in the Bolduc family until the twentieth century and was occupied by Zoe Bolduc in the 1930s. In 1949, its present owners, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Missouri, acquired it.
The house was completed restored to it 1780's configuration in 1956-1957 with Dr. Ernest A. Connally, at the time was Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois, later became Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service. The restoration was based on extensive research to insure authenticity.
The house is now owned and operated as a museum by the The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Missouri and is open for tours.
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