The Oakland House was built in 1850's by Louis A. Benoist, a pioneer banker.  Benoist was born in St. Louis on July 12, 1801, the son of a French Canadian fur trader.  As a young man, he studied law and medicine, but decided on banking as a profession.  He founded Louis A. Benoist & Company in downtown St. Louis and opened branch banks in New Orleans and San Francisco.  In 1867, he died of cholera while on a business trip to Cuba and left an estate of $5 million.
          Benoist chose George I. Barnett to design his country home.  Barnett, a renowned architect at the time, had designed mansions in Lafayette Square and on Vandeventer Place, as well as Henry Shaw's Tower Grove House and the Executive Mansion in Jefferson City.
          Oakland was built of limestone quarried on the estate.  The first floor contained a drawing room, library, dining room, butler's pantry and kitchen.  Three bedrooms were on the second floor with servants' quarters over the kitchen.  A narrow, winding stairway climbed to the 4-story watch tower.  The Honduras mahogany staircase, plaster cove moldings bordering the 14-foot ceilings and the windowed alcoves set off by intricately carved Corinthian columns are highlights of the House.
         The House later passed through several owners until 1920 when the mansion and 200 acres were purchased by Lakewood Park Cemetery.
         The Affton Historical Society owns, operates and maintains Oakland.  The Society, organized in 1973, bought the then-dilapidated mansion for $35,000 from Lakewood Park Cemetery.  Since that time, the Society  has spent about $300,000 and innumerable volunteer man-hours to restore Oakland to its original grandeur.
         Oakland is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the U.S. Department of Interior in the Library of Congress.
         Society members meet quarterly and the Ladies of Oakland, a group within the Society, meet monthly, March through December.
         The House may be rented for private parties.  Many community events, open to the public, are held through the year at Oakland.  The House is open for tours the third Sunday of every month beginning April through October and at other times by special arrangements.  Private luncheons for groups of up to 60 people may be arranged.  The House may also be rented for wedding receptions.  For more information please feel free to contact us. 

Oakland House Address is:

7801 Genesta

St. Louis MO. 63123

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