Pierre Menard House, French Colonial residence in Ellis Grove, Illinois.
Pierre Menard House is a two-story residence in Ellis Grove with a spacious front gallery, double-hipped roof, and timber frame secured throughout with wooden pegs. The building demonstrates French Colonial construction methods from the early 1800s.
Construction began in 1802 when Pierre Menard, a French-Canadian trader, built this house near the Mississippi River. He later rose to prominence as Illinois' first lieutenant governor, reflecting the growing influence of French settlers in the territory.
Inside, you find period furnishings from the early 1800s that belonged to the Menard family, arranged throughout the rooms to show how wealthy French-Canadian residents lived in this frontier region.
The site is accessible and offers guided tours along with museum exhibits about the region's past. Visitors can explore both the main house and several outbuildings on the property during their visit.
The grounds contain a stone kitchen building with a brick baking oven, plus a small log privy and a smokehouse that still stand today. These supporting structures reveal how a household of this size actually functioned in the early 1800s.
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