Bastille Day celebrated Saturday at Jarrot Mansion in Cahokia

It’s ironic that they would celebrate Bastille Day at the Jarrot Mansion.

Bastille Day commemorates the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 with the storming of the state prison used to hold political prisoners. Nicholas Jarrot, who commissioned the home’s construction, came from the privileged class and fled from France during the Revolution.

“He loved his country, but he loved America more,” said tour guide Elizabeth Papp.

The Jarrot Mansion was opened on Saturday to celebrate Illinois’ French heritage and Bastille Day, celebrated in France on July 14. The mansion is usually closed to the public.

The Jarrot Mansion is the oldest brick building in Illinois, built in 1810 by Jarrot, a wealthy landowner, businessman and one-time judge. The home was built eight years before Illinois became a state.

Papp, dressed in a period costume, showed visitors into the great hall that would have served as a dining room and the family bedrooms on the first floor. Upstairs, Papp showed the ballroom where Jarrot’s guests would have danced and a parlor where Jarrot and male visitors would have smoked cigars, drank and discussed politics. The upstairs included two guest rooms — the only two rooms in the house without fireplaces.

“He didn’t want guests to overstay their welcome,” Papp said.

There was no indoor plumbing added to the house, even though it was a private residence until the 1950s.

There is a springhouse in the backyard that was used to keep food cool, Papp said.

The kitchen would have been in the basement. The steep, spiral staircase leads to a rock-lined basement where the help would have prepared meals.

The home, located at 124 E. First St. in Cahokia, is a state historic site.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency restored the home. During the renovation, they found four horse skulls.

The skulls were clean when they were placed there, Papp said, and may have been done to bring “good magic.”

Jarrot allowed Meriwether Lewis to camp through the winter of 1803 to 1804 on one of his properties near the mouth of the Missouri River. The camp would become Camp Dubois.

Jarrot and his wife, Julia, had five daughters and two sons. Jarrot died in 1820.

Dale and Shirley Tippett, of Okawville, arrived about 11 a.m. Saturday to tour the home.

“I like historic places,” Shirley Tippett said. “I have seen the courthouse and the church, but we never caught the mansion open.”

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Bastille Day celebrated Saturday at Jarrot Mansion in Cahokia."