St. Louis Bed and Breakfasts Provide Delightful Stay
The Lemp Mansion Bed and Breakfast was built in the early 1860’s and was home at one time to America’s leading brewing family. Then in 1901 things began to go terribly wrong. In 1892 the founder of the brewery, John Adam Lemp, left control of the business to his son, William. A few years later William’s favorite son Frederick died under mysterious circumstances. Three years later William shot himself in the head. Then his sister Elsa committed suicide in 1920. William Lemp Jr. then shot himself in the same room where his father died eighteen years earlier. William’s brother Charles also committed suicide at the house. The family’s fortunes went into steady decline until prohibition finally finished them off. Edwin Lemp, the last surviving member of the family died childless at the mansion in 1970.
The mansion also went through a period of decline, existing as a run-down dollar and dime rooming house until it was totally renovated into the first class bed and breakfast/restaurant that it is today.
Check in time for my wife and I was 6 o’clock p.m. on a hot and sweltering August night a couple of years ago. We had dinner at the restaurant downstairs and bought a copy of the book “The Haunted History of the Lemp Mansion.” Quite a few stories had accumulated over the years about the place. Stories about how wine glasses had moved mysteriously down the bar, buttons popping off of patron’s clothes, sightings of Charles hovering over guest’s beds at night, and the upstairs grand piano playing itself in the middle of the night. One story told of a carpenter, during the remodeling, being lifted off of the floor by his throat, running out of the place screaming, never to return. He left about three thousand dollars worth of his tools behind. We relished over dinner that we were about to spend a night in one of the ten most haunted places in America. Little did we know that we would have our own stories to add to the mix.
After dinner we walked around the neighborhood a little and checked out what was left of the old Lemp brewery which was right down the street. Peeking through one of the doors you could still smell the scent of beer even though the place had been closed for many years. We checked out a few more places in the old St. Louis neighborhood known as Soulard. It was getting late and a little dark so we decided to head back to the mansion. We went upstairs to our room, the very same room where Charles had shot himself in the head. There was an eerie portrait of the man staring down at us from the wall. At about 11 o’clock we hear the sound of a phone ringing downstairs in the restaurant. It rang and rang, nobody answered. We went downstairs to discover that the restaurant was closed and there wasn’t anybody there. We checked out the wine cellar and the kitchen, the two vaults where the Lemps had kept their prized art collection. Going back up to the second floor we looked into some of the other rooms. They were all empty. We went up to the third floor where it seemed that the house was in its original condition. No restoration had been done. One room was mysteriously locked. We then realized that we were there alone!
Maybe that was the reason that strange things began to happen. The mind can play tricks, right? There was a dumbwaiter that was nailed shut and every time you walked past it, the hair on the back of your neck would stand up. Looking out of Charles’s bedroom at the church across the street, I had the distinct impression that this was the last thing that he looked at before he shot himself. Suicides aren’t buried in sacred ground. The whereabouts of his body is still unknown. And what was in the locked room on the third floor?
It would be difficult to sleep, but we decided to turn in for the night. There was a skeleton key in the bedroom door. I turned it to lock and then peered out into the hallwayâÂ?¦nothing in sight. About three o’clock it beganâÂ?¦..a faint tinkling sound, coming from outside of our room. From the piano in the hallway. My wife heard it too. “$%%#$% this!” she said and pulled the covers up over her head. Like that was going to protect her. I, on the other hand, was determined to see the ghost. I jumped out of bed and put the key in the lock, slowly turning it. Hesitant at first, I pulled on the door a couple of times before I finally thought “the hell with it” and flung the thing open. “Hey Charles!” I shouted. There was no response and no one in the hall. Perhaps I had scared him away.
The Lemp Mansion Bed and Breakfast is located at 3322 Demenil Place in St. Louis, Mo. Their phone number is (314) 664-8024. They’re open all year.If bedding down under the watchful eye of a beer baron ghost is not your particular cup of tea then venturing a few blocks to the northeast will bring you to another historic place in St. Louis: Lafayette Square. The area around the Square was set aside as a public park just before the civil war. Around the park were built some of the most lavish and opulent Victorian homes in the area. Most of St. Louis wealthy merchants and businessmen called Lafayette Square home. Then in May of 1896 the Great Tornado tore through that section of town. Many of the buildings and much of the gardens and landscaping were destroyed. Many of the residents fled to the Central West End and rebuilt their homes. The area was in steady decline until the early seventies when a massive restoration project took place which is still going on today.
My favorite bed and breakfast in Lafayette Square is the Lafayette House. It is the oldest bed and breakfast in St. Louis and is located right across the street from the park. The home was built in 1876 by James B. Eads who went on to build the Eads Bridge, the first bridge to span the Mississippi.
The first thing you notice when you enter the house is the beautifully hand carved walnut staircase. Most of the rooms have their own fireplaces and in a few, modern amenities like a wet bar and Jacuzzi have been added. One of the neat things I found in this Victorian is the Christmas Trees scattered throughout the place during the Holidays. Each one is decorated with candles, ( I hope they had fire extinguishers back I the day), and small perfectly wrapped presents. You can take one and unwrap it with glee while you are sitting next to the fireplace.
The Lafayette House is located at 2156 Lafayette Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. Tel: (314) 772-4429.
Just a few houses down from Lafayette House sits the bed and breakfast known as Napoleon’s Retreat. This 1880 French Second Empire Victorian offers the ultimate in luxurious surroundings with large, comfortable beds and a beautiful decorating scheme in every room. The outside (see photo) was chosen as one of the “Prettiest Painted Places” by Better Home and Gardens magazine.
Napoleon’s Retreat is located at 1815 Lafayette, St. Louis, Missouri 63104. Tel: (314) 772-6979.
Here’s a suggestion: if you are planning to head East from St. Louis after staying at one or more of the above mentioned bed and breakfasts, make a quick detour down Route 57 into central Illinois and stop at the town of Arcola. Arcola is smack dab in the middle of the Arcola-Arthur Amish community. There you will find The Flower Patch. This charming little five bedroom Victorian bed and breakfast is owned by Lynne and Bill Harshbarger, two of the nicest folks you will ever meet. Bill teaches history at a nearby university and his wife Lynne makes porcelain art which is for sale in the downstairs gift shop. The five course breakfast at this inn is something right out of a fairy book. A wonderful array of pastries is served side by side with ham and other delicacies produced by the Amish community. Fresh herbs and flowers (yes they are edible) finish off the meal. And be sure to drink deeply from the large pitcher of lemon balm tea that is always full in the welcoming area. The town is also home to the creator of the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and Lynne has one of the world’s largest collections.
The Flower Patch Bed and Breakfast is at 225 E. Jefferson in Arcola, Illinois. Tel:(217) 268-4876.
