The 20 Oldest Homes in the United States

19. Louis Bolduc House in Ste. Genevieve, MO

Built in 1785 in the French Colonial style, the Louis Bolduc House is a 1 and ½ story house that features stone chimneys, a cedar shake roof, and posts on the sills. Set on a raised stone platform, the home was a “vertical wooden post” construction, meaning the walls were built around wood posts that were dug into the ground. Inside, there were originally two rooms that are separated by a hall and surrounded on all sides by covered verandas or galleries. The home was built and owned by Louis Bolduc, a prominent merchant, planter, and lead miner in the community. By 1793, he had expanded the home to include three spacious rooms. Until it was purchased by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in 1947, it remained in the Bolduc family. Today, it operates as a museum that is open to the public. The Bolduc is considered to be one of the finest and least changed examples of French Colonial architecture in the United States, according to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1969, it was listed on the registry.