This house is one of the few remaining examples of the French colonial architecture that once characterized the first settlement of Switzerland County.  Once common throughout the Mississippi Valley, the house was built ca. 1805-15 by Frenchmen who found themselves without work after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.  Possibly some of these men met Switzerland County founder Swiss native, John James Dufour, during his 1797 sojourn to the middle Mississippi valley to seek help in establishing his new settlement on the banks of the Ohio River.  In 1802, Dufour petitioned Congress to enter lands in Indiana on credit with the view of introducing grape culture to the United States.  In 1805, another French-speaking Swiss, Louis Gex Oboussier bought a portion of that property we call Musee de Venoge.

The structure is posts-on-sill, timber frame, mortise-joined and wood-pegged throughout.  Brick nogging insulation supports the first floor plaster with hand-split accordion lath throughout.

www.venoge.org