Réveillon at the Mansion
Join us for Chatillon-DeMenil's Annual Member's Holiday Party or Réveillon at 6:00 pm on December 6th in the Mansion's double parlor.
Traditionally, following a day of fasting, Midnight Mass was held celebrating the birth of Jesus. This Réveillon closed out the year with feasting and singing and was often repeated on New Year’s Eve. The menu often included a Buche de Noel and lovely regional wines.
Réveillon is a special time of year in France and cities like St. Louis with a strong French tradition, a celebration enjoyed by people of all ages and faiths, a time to come together with loved ones and to enjoy the company of each other, as well as the delicious food and festive atmosphere.
In the French tradition of the Chatillons and the DeMenils, our celebration will include cocktails and refreshments beginning at 6:00 PM.
This event is open to all Chatillon-Demenil members. If you would like to celebrate the season with us, and are not yet a member, join online at DeMenil.org. Inexpensive gift memberships will be available at the door for your invited guests. Our Christmas party is a way to thank you for your support and to show you how much you are valued.
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Madame DeMenil’s menu for Réveillon
A Visit from Chatillon-DeMenil's 1967 Caretakers
The young couple who lived at the Mansion in the 1960s as caretakers and docents recently paid us a visit from their home in Florida to promote their charity, the Mary Alice Education Fund, at local high schools.
Sharon and Bob Alexander were juniors at Washington University in St. Louis in the spring of 1967. They had graduated from high school in Montana, and Sharon had been at WashU when Bob entered as a senior and they found each other.
When they graduated, Bob got a job teaching biology in St. Louis and Sharon started teaching English at Southwest High School where she taught for five or six years while they each pursued advanced degrees. They stayed in St. Louis until 1974 when they both got their doctoral degrees.
Sharon and Bob Alexander with our mascot, Lulu
Over their careers they developed expertise in college admissions, financial aid, and raising SAT and ACT test scores. Their education fund’s mission is to make sure that kids whose families don't have resources have access to those services.
While pursuing their degrees at WashU, the Alexanders were hired by Chapin Newhard and the Board to maintain a presence in the mansion and to act as the face of DeMenil. Sharon gave tours three days a week, and Bob was the groundskeeper, keeping the lawn trimmed with a non-motorized lawnmower. On Sundays, Bob did some of the tours while Sharon studied; she conducted tours on Saturdays. As they recall, the mansion was open at least five days, maybe six a week, and closed Monday and Tuesday.
As for the years after St. Louis, they moved to Jacksonville, Florida, Washington, DC, Charlotte, NC, and then to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando. Bob rose in the testing business until becoming manager of Kaplan Test Prep in the Southeast. Sharon worked for numerous school districts showing top-10 students how to navigate the college admissions process. They are now semi-retired and live in Ft. Pierce, Florida.
Ladue Garden Club Reception
On the evening of September 14th, the Board of Directors of DeMenil entertained two dozen members of the Ladue Garden Club and their spouses at a cocktail party as a thank you for the Club's financial and physical support over the years.
The foci of the Garden Club's support were the hydrangea beds to the east and north of the Carriage House patio, the arborvitae to the east, and the boxwood edged rose beds at our western entrance.
Our hydrangea garden is a beautiful and vibrant oasis that can be enjoyed throughout the summer and fall. With their large, colorful white and pale green blooms, our hydrangeas were in full late summer bloom and formed a vibrant backdrop to the party, attended by many members who were new to the gardens of the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion. LGC member Gay Goessling was instrumental in the planning and planting of the hydrangeas in the Spring of 2011.
Members of the Ladue Garden Club
To the east of the hydrangeas, bordering the iron fence along the Interstate, march a row of twenty arborvitae, another gift of the Ladue Garden Club. Planted close together, their dense foliage creates a solid wall of green blocking out the rush of traffic, creating a sense of privacy unusual in the city. The Ladue arborvitae, planned by Tim Rohan, also help to reduce noise pollution, making the DeMenil patio and backyard a more peaceful place to relax, their evergreen foliage providing a touch of green year-round.
Replacing a pair of crabapple trees that blocked the view of the Mansion’s west façade, boxwood delineated rose gardens now welcome visitors to our DeMenil Place entrance. Designed by Mary Hayward, the rose gardens were made possible by another Ladue Garden Club grant.
Pianoforte Recital by Daniel Adam Maltz
On Saturday and Sunday, September 16th and 17th, Chatillon-DeMenil played host to a pair of piantoforte recitals by renowned Viennese based performer Daniel Adam Maltz featuring the music of Mozart and Haydn. Daniel specializes in Wiener Klassik — Viennese Classicism — especially the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven performed on the Viennese fortepianos of their time, very different from modern Steinways, as we learned to our delight on Saturday and Sunday.
Our audiences enjoyed Haydn and Mozart’s piano sonatas performed as they intended them to be heard — in a private home on a period instrument. During the Classical era in Vienna, composers expected their keyboard music to entertain relatively small audiences in more intimate settings than today’s large concert halls. The Chatillon-DeMenil double parlor was the perfect setting for our Fall Concert.
Daniel made his Carnegie Hall (Weill) debut at age 22 and is in demand worldwide with 50+ tour dates per year as a sought-after soloist, Lieder accompanist, and clinician. Daniel also hosts Classical Cake, the podcast about Viennese classical music and culture.
Fitting in a St. Louis visit to initiate our Fall Concert Series between tour dates in Normal, IL and Richmond, VA, Daniel explained the differences between a modern and a fortepiano, including a smaller range of notes (50-60 keys instead of 88) and construction primarily of wood (cedar) and other non-industrial materials. The Viennese pianofortes were responsible for much of the music created during the Classical and Romantic eras.
Daniel demonstrated his ability to play with great precision and power, filling the double parlor with a range of emotions, but he also was able to interpret Haydn’s and Mozart’s compositions with depth and sensitivity, bringing his audiences along the path toward standing ovations at the end of each performance. All four pieces, two by Mozart and two by Haydn, employed the sonata form, often considered to be the most demanding and challenging formats to perform.
Daniel delighted both his Saturday and Sunday audiences with his mastery of his craft and the brilliance of the two composers.
Light refreshments were served after each recital, and the audiences had a chance to meet Daniel in person and discover our latest delightful visitor to the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion.
St. Louis Bourbon Festival Comes to DeMenil
On Friday, October 6th, the St. Louis Bourbon Festival, will be at DeMenil for a 2nd year, hosted by the St. Louis Bourbon Society. The three city block festival will include live music (in our Carriage House), street performers, food trucks, a scotch and cigar patio (on our patio) as well as hundreds of whiskies that are sure to make for an exciting evening of fellowship in the spirit.
Founded in 2016, the St. Louis Bourbon Society has grown from a group of a few hundred people who wanted to discuss bourbon and drink together into one of the most interactive Bourbon groups in the country. With nearly 12,000 enthusiasts who are passionate about their Bourbon, they continue to connect with one another across the region.
More than just a place to discuss, the St. Louis Bourbon society hosts multiple tastings, bottle shares and events throughout the year featuring brands, ambassadors, hall of famers and master distillers from across the country.
More than just whiskey, every event the SLBS hosts also has a charitable component with a mission of creating fellowship and giving back to the communities in which we live. A portion of the ticket proceeds will benefit the St Louis Hero Network for First Responders
At 6:00 pm, Bryan Smith, the Master distiller at Hard Truth Distillery in Indiana, will discuss and offer tastings of their Sweet Mash Rye and their new High Road Expression in the Carriage House.
At 8:00 pm in the Carriage House, Bernie Lubbers and his guitar, from Heaven Hill Whiskey in Bardstown, Kentucky, will tell the story of the Evolution of Bourbon from the 1700s unaged corn whiskey to matured corn whiskey of early 1800s and how wheat found its way into recipes in the 1800s. Explore with Bernie the Bottle in Bond Act of 1897, a watershed moment for Bourbon. Learn about the Amish bourbon which disappeared forever until the small batch and single barrel bourbons started the new renaissance of bourbon we are in today.
At the heart of the festival is bourbon, a name that derives from the French Bourbon family, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, both of which are named after the House of Bourbon.
For information and tickets, visit www.stlouisbourbonfestival.com
DeMenil House Foundation
Board of Directors
Mary Hayward, President
Mary Stiritz, Vice President
Joe Carpenter, Treasurer
Tom Grady, Secretary
Ted Atwood, Director
Ward Buckner, Director
Jane Chouteau, Director
Bill Hart, Director
Shashi Palamand, Director
Tim Rohan, Director
Bill Stanard, Executive Director
Published October 2023