The Larimore

An Italianate residence of 1858, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first American house of the collection.

Stockbridge acquired The Larimore in 2023 and holds it within The Gilchrist Collection, near St. Louis, Missouri. Its history includes the labour of sixteen enslaved workers, which the estate records and honours in its present operation.

Provenance

The Larimore was built in 1858 by Wilson Larimore on two thousand acres of Missouri farmland, a pre-Civil War estate whose land produced hay, corn, rye, sweet potatoes, livestock and honey. The history of the estate includes sixteen documented enslaved workers, a fact the estate records and honours.

The Larimore family held it for more than fifty years, after which it passed through the Scott and Penningroth families. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, named a St. Louis County Landmark in 1996, and restored as a private estate.

The Grounds

Six acres of landscaped grounds hold formal gardens, shaded walkways, a water garden and koi pond, a marble gazebo and a classical fountain courtyard, with sweeping lawns beyond.

Within

The Italianate residence retains its character of more than a century and a half, beneath twelve-foot ceilings, with fourteen fireplaces, a cupola and a widow’s walk. An onsite chapel and a reception hall serve the principal gatherings.

Stockbridge holds The Larimore for the long term, an American house of record maintained and stewarded rather than realised.