when we talk about history we generally talk about the things that happened people places
events frankly we talk about facts but what we don't talk about are the things that did not
happen hi everyone ken here welcome to this house today we are exploring the mansion of a man who
almost changed the course of history before we go inside make sure to hit that subscribe button so
you never miss an exciting episode of this house james eads was one of america's leading engineers
having created one of the first superstructures in the united states the eats bridge which connected
missouri to illinois over the mississippi river shortly after its completion the national
discussion turned towards shipping goods from the atlantic to the pacific ocean both the east
and the west coast were developing at a rapid rate but shipping items between them required
boats to travel around south america which made for long shipping times to address this issue
a proposal was made to create the panama canal but james eads had another idea each presented the ead
ship railway as a more budget-friendly alternative to keep ports closer to the united states
he designed a system to lift ships from the water and secure the mono platform the ship sitting on
the platform would then be hauled over land by multiple trains running parallel to each other
until the ship reached the body of water on the other side of the tawanta peck isthmus in mexico
in 1877 to help him achieve his goals eats brought alexander gilmore cochrane to saint
louis to be his personal business attorney cochran was sent back and forth from st louis
missouri to washington d.c lobbying on behalf of eads after 10 years of lobbying the plan was
gaining momentum the each ship railway seemed to be the most practical answer to the problem
but just before plans could go forward james eads suddenly died without the cunning engineer to
oversee its construction the plans were abandoned and construction went forward on the panama canal
cochran now out of a job became the general solicitor and vice president of the missouri
pacific railway company he had amassed a fortune and with that fortune built this house in 1890
the house was designed in the richardsonian romanesque style and constructed from indiana
limestone blocks ornate relief work was carved into the limestone and floral patterns more relief
work can be found in the form of drama masks set in the offsets of the stone arches let's go inside
walking into the front door we now arrive in the vestibule so let's take a moment to look
out over the space composed of indiana limestone blocks the vestibule was originally open air
with the windows having been added at a later date originally a visitor would approach the front door
seen here to enter the home walking inside the home we arrive in the ante hall
so let's take a moment to look out from the spot across the entrance hall now making our
way into the space we arrive in what might be considered the reception room there's a
large fireplace we can also notice the dental molding capping out the wall panels and there's
some really interesting details to point out in this space we can see how the molding rolls down
and while we look up we can also see the coffered ceiling with plaster work that has been painted to
match the wood tones speaking of the wood tones let's not forget to look down at the floors
and these floors are believed to have been original to the house sometimes this room
could be referred to as an inglenook which is a small nook for a fireplace next to an entry
before we get to the stair hall we are going to cut into the living room
so come on through here and this space really opens up
following the diagonal grain of the parquet wood floors
we come towards a niche which is the tower that we saw on the outside of the house
now down below me here is one of the steam vents so let's take a closer look at this
and while our eyes are down here let's also notice the inlaid wood border that surrounds the space
if we look directly behind me there is a large fireplace it has two columns on its lower mantle
and in the center of the hearth's mantle there is a wood relief over on this side of the room and as
recently as 50 years ago the shaftly family added on these french doors that go out onto a small
terrace and we can take a quick look at that from the outside the brick terrace brings you down to a
cobblestone patio with a fountain sitting high above the french doors is a bronze freeze set
inside the dormer window as we continue to look around the backyard we can imagine a wedding that
took place here in 1904 while the world's fair was in full swing across the street 800 wedding
invitations were sent out and a temporary pavilion was constructed in the yard which was decorated
with white roses celebrating the marriage of the cochran's daughter let's head back inside and
see the rest of the home coming back inside we are going to pass by the opening to the kitchen
we will see that in just a moment but first we are going to make our way back out into the stair hall
and cut across to see the dining room so follow me on and here and let's begin to take a look around
the coffered ceiling is decorated in ornate plasterwork boasting the likeness of fruits
bundled together and overflowing from their geometric composition set above an ornate freeze
featuring a cartouche being repeated around the entirety of the room
the rounded windows to either side of the fireplace allow natural light to flood in
reflecting off the painted three-dimensional wood wall panels the original wood floors
are patterned with a border and help to reflect light upwards lending an ethereal
feel to the space the fireplace sits in stark contrast boosting relief work along its mantle
now that we've seen the dining room let's go ahead and make our way into the butler's pantry
and this space is pretty much all original to the house let's take a moment to really
see these cabinets the glass panels the hardware and even the under cabinets
now there's something really special over here while the owner was renovating this house he found
some of the original tile work so let's open up this cabinet and take a quick peek at that
passing out of the butler's pantry we now arrive in the maids hall
if we look down we can see a newer floor this is a versaille pattern done in travertine
and there's also a beautiful mosaic down here below me so let's take a moment to look at this
before we see the rest of the maids hall we are going to cut into the kitchen
so follow me on here and this is a fairly newer space so we will just take a moment to
look around and i'll tell you a little bit about how this might have originally been configured
originally the kitchen would have been divided with a wall at the end of where the island is
currently located creating spaces for the servants including a servant's kitchen as we look around we
can see special attention has been paid to the finishes of the kitchen by borrowing the same
dark wood tones from the fireplaces to finish out the cabinets the hardware was matched to
the hardware found in the butler's pantry to create a more cohesive aesthetic experience
coming out of the kitchen we are going to walk back through the maids hall and there are some
things to see along the way here we can see the original bead board surrounding the space
also if we take a moment to look at the stairs this is not so common for
a maids hall there are really decorative spindles and a large decorative knoll post
as well to cap it all off so we'll just take a quick look up there and while we are looking
up there i can go ahead and show you these advertisements that the original family had
looking for staff in the house in this picture we can see the family looking for a cook
in this one the family was looking for a governess for their daughter
and this family did not actually have that many staff for a house of this size
so it's kind of interesting how few people it really took to run this house
anyways continuing forward we are now going to arrive at the stair hall and i know you've all
been dying to see the staircase so let's take a moment to start seeing some of these details
first we will notice how these stairs come down and sweep around the master nool post and come
take a closer look at some of the details on the snow post the relief carvings are done in
a floral pattern and are brought up to a tip which once again ties back into that gothic
theme that we've been seeing played out subtly throughout the house let's also take a moment
to see the craftsmanship of the spindles how they are symmetrical from top to bottom bulging out in
the center and while our eyes are following the spindles down the stairs let's continue our gaze
down a few more steps to the next landing there is a rounded radiator and i've got to tell you i've
never seen anything like this in my entire life this is just one of the most interesting pieces
now that we've seen everything on the first floor let's go on up and check out the rest of the house
rounding the stair landing we arrive at two mirrored secondary new posts which are
linked by this really interesting banister that's almost oxbowed now bringing our focus up
there are stained glass windows behind me and these are actually not original
to the house they were added sometime in the 80s so let's take a moment to
see some of these details before continuing on to the second floor
arriving at the top of the stairs we come into the second floor stair hall
so let's start looking around once again we have wainscoting that is topped off by dentille molding
and above that connecting the door frames is a picture rail above all
of these doors you'll see transom windows and some of these are still functioning
the first room we are going to see off the stair hall is the primary bedroom so come on
in here and begin taking a look around this puts us directly above the living room that we saw on
the first floor where the piano was so we can see that same cutout for a sitting area now over here
is a bump out in the wall and if we look closely at the floor we can see where the wood floor was
repaired and patched indicating that at one time there would have been a fireplace right here let's
go ahead and just take a quick glance around this room before i show you the bathroom and the closet
off of the bedroom is the primary bathroom and of course all of this
is much newer than what we've been seeing in the rest of the house
we'll just take a quick glance around and then continue forward
continuing forward we now arrive in the primary closet at one time this would have been set up
as a sitting room we can see the fireplace with glazed bricks around and also come look at some
of these details such as these metal framing that surrounds it there are large built-in closets
on this side of the room and to match these larger closets there is a window surround with shelves
below it now something that might be original to the home is the window bench on this side
so you can imagine sitting here and just enjoying the light flooding in
making our way out of the primary bedroom we are going to come to an office there are large
built-in bookshelves directly behind me and on the other side of the wall there is another fireplace
which matches the same decorative motif as we just saw in the primary
closet let's just take a quick look around this room before moving on
opening this pocket door we are going to step back into the second floor stair hall
and there are a few more spaces that i would like to show you organized off of here
so go ahead and go in the bathroom and let's start taking a look around
the floor tile you're seeing was installed in the 1940s the marble wall tile that you see here
along with its trim are original to the house however the current owners did something really
fascinating they found scraps of the same marble down in the basement and used it to create a more
modern shower surround so let's take a look at this and then we're going to continue on
as we leave the bathroom off to this side is a bedroom and we'll just take a quick look in here
now cutting diagonally across the stair hall we will see another bedroom
and this sits directly above the dining room once again let's pay attention to
the curved windows that round out on either side of the fireplace with its glazed brick
now off to one side of the fireplace below one of the windows is a curved radiator and we have
only seen this one time before while exploring houses and i'll go ahead and throw a link up on
the screen in case you'd like to see that example as well now that we've seen the entirety of the
second floor let's make our way to the maids hall and continue up the stairs to the third floor
arriving at the third floor if we continue straight forward we will arrive in the ballroom
but first we'll just take a moment to see a playroom
off to this side is a large closet so let's go ahead and peek our heads in here and see this
continuing on down the hall we are heading towards the ballroom but first we're going to see a large
built-in over here and i'd actually like your thoughts on this do you think this piece is
original to the house or do you think that maybe it was added in at a later period so if we look
down at the wood floors we can see that it is cut out around this piece however the bead board here
just looks a little newer to me than what we've been seeing throughout and you'll see a better
example of that once we do enter the ballroom walking into this space the ceiling start to
vault above us there is a billiards table off to this side now if we continue over here there's an
octagonal turret area with low windows so you can imagine this space being perfect for a card table
or something to that likeness now let me tell you a little story about something that happened here
this space was once used as a grand ballroom as we can see described in this newspaper clipping
while the attic was being restored fragments of gilted plaster were found behind the wall panels
seeing these pieces we can only imagine how the once lavish ballroom might have appeared
perhaps my favorite part of this attic space is behind this door let's open this and take a
look out here now coming into this space this is just phenomenal so it rounds out with these large
limestone blocks and you can really get a good idea of the construction quality of this house
by seeing just how thick these blocks actually are and of course there are these dry iron grates
that prevent us from being totally open air here however you can still
catch a beautiful breeze even on a 100 degree missouri summer day like today is
thank you all for joining me on this tour i really hope that you enjoyed it
which part of this house was your favorite let me know down below in the comments
i'd also like to take a moment to say thank you to our this house supporters whose names
you can see on screen right now if you would like to see your name on the screen please
consider joining our membership program today i'll see you next time on this house!