Lemp Mansion

Lemp Mansion
Front of the Lemp Mansion
General information
Address	3322 DeMenil Place (formerly 3322 South 13th Street)
Town or city	St. Louis, Missouri
Country	United States
Coordinates	38°35′36″N 90°12′58″W / 38.5932°N 90.216°W / 38.5932; -90.216Coordinates: 38°35′36″N 90°12′58″W / 38.5932°N 90.216°W / 38.5932; -90.216
Completed	1868
Website
lempmansion.com

The Lemp Mansion (3322 DeMenil Place, St. Louis, Missouri) is a historical house in Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is also the site of four suicides by Lemp family members after the death of the son Frederick Lemp, whose William J. Lemp Brewing Co. dominated the St. Louis beer market before Prohibition with its Falstaff beer brand. The mansion is said to be haunted by members of the Lemp family.

The house was built in 1868 by St. Louisian Jacob Feickert. William J. Lemp and his wife, Julia, moved into the mansion in 1876. In 1911, the house underwent major renovations including conversion of some space into offices for the Lemp Brewery. The Lemps lived in the house until 1949 when Charles Lemp committed suicide in his bed.

In 1950, the mansion became a boarding house; throughout the next decade, it lost much of its ornate charm. The construction of Interstate 55 during the 1960s led to the destruction of much of the grounds and one of the carriage houses.

Although many of the original details of the home have been replaced, there are still some remaining pieces. The decorative iron gates from the open-air elevator can be viewed from the basement restaurant. In the office where William Lemp, Jr. committed suicide, there is still an Italian marble mantel. The ceiling in the parlor is hand-painted, and the mantels are intricately carved African mahogany. The main bathroom includes a glass-enclosed shower that Lemp brought back to St. Louis from an Italian hotel. The three vaults where the Lemps stored their art pieces are located in the rear of the home.

The Lemp Mansion is currently a restaurant and inn owned by the Pointer family; tours both historical and haunted are offered and it is a venue for murder mystery dinner theater and Halloween parties. Although the area has lost its former charm, there are other nearby buildings of historic interest including the Chatillon-DeMenil House at 3325 DeMenil Place.

The original patriarch of the Lemp Family was Johann "Adam" Lemp, born in 1798 in Grüningen, Germany. He became a naturalized citizen in November 1841. He arrived in the United States in 1836, eventually settling in St. Louis in 1838. In the St. Louis city directory of 1840–41, he is listed as a grocer.