Area less than one acre NRHP Reference # 89002350 Architectural style American Colonial | Built 1790 Opened 1790 Added to NRHP 9 February 1990 | |
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Location First St. at Old Rt. 3, East Carondelet, Illinois Similar Nicholas Jarrot Mansion, Old Cahokia Courthouse, Peterstown House, Labor & Industrial Museum, Church of the Holy Family | ||
The Martin-Boismenue House is a single-family house and historic site in East Carondelet, Illinois about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) East of the Mississippi River. The house, built circa 1790, is owned by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Description
The Martin-Boismenue House, built about 1790 by North American frontiersman Pierre Martin, is one of the oldest surviving structures in Illinois. Although the house was built after the American Bottom had been ceded to the young United States of America, the house reflects the French Colonial architectural traditions of the Mississippi River valley. The region immediately around Cahokia, Illinois continued to speak French for several decades after the cession.
The one-story house is built as a poteaux-sur-sol ('post-on-sill') structure, a traditional French building scheme that shares many elements with traditional European half timbering. Squared-log outer walls support the roof; the logs, squared off by hand-hewing or with a pit saw, rest on a log sill mounted on a stone foundation. 'Galleries,' wide porches, enclose the house's north and south facades. The house consists of a two-room first floor, a large attic, a half-basement, and the two galleries. There was no shortage of firewood in the Illinois Territory during the house's early history, and the three separate fireplaces were used to heat the home and acted as places for cooking.
The Martin-Boismenue House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 9, 1990 as NRHP site #89002350. It is located at 2110 1st Street in East Carondelet.