REDEVELOPING NIMS MANSION
A masterpiece designed by famed architectural duo Maritz & Young
On the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River commanding a view up and down the river and across to the Illinois Palisades, sits the country estate of Eugene & Lotawana Nims. Owned by the St. Louis County Parks Department since 1968, this national landmark has been vacant for 30-years and is at-risk for endangerment. The Foundation is pioneering an effort to preserve the building and prevent it from destruction.
An Icon of Architecture.
Nims Mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The architecture firm, Maritz and Young was one of the most prolific, and influential in the St. Louis region during the first half of the 20th Century.
Completed in 1929, the home is an excellent example of the Tudor Revival architectural style featuring local stone from a quarry less than 2-miles away, a multi-color slate tile roof, timbered lead paned windows, arched doorways and massive chimneys.
Eugene & Lotawana Nims
Before becoming a County Park, the home and surrounding land were the country estate and farm of Eugene and Lotawana Nims. Nims was a telephone executive, working for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and his wife, a known socialite and fixture of St. Louis high society. In addition to being a director of Southwestern Bell, throughout his life at various times Nims was also a director of the First National Bank in St. Louis, St. Louis Union Trust Company, Scruggs-Vandervoort-Barney, Inc., Huttig Sash and Door Company, Dr. Pepper Company, as well as the president of the St. Louis Council of Boy Scouts in 1932.
After the Nims’ marriage in 1914, Lotawana became an icon for the latest fashion trends among the wealthy and was often pictured and mentioned within newspapers. Lotawana Nims was an avid gardener, and was so adept at gardening that the National Garden Club visited her garden at Bee Tree on at least one occasion in 1937. Many newspaper of the time make mentions of dinner parties and engagement announcements for the girls Mrs. Nims knew. The Bee Tree garden was designed to fit with the landscape of the river bluff, and included over 10,000 daffodils on the bluff below the house.
NIMS MANSION at BEE TREE PARK
Behind the Scene Tour
Join the Committee.
If you are passionate about preserving Nims Mansion for generations to come, please consider joining our committee dedicated to raising awareness, funds and support for the preservation of Nims Mansion.
