The Twillman House
The Twillman House was built in 1870 by Johann Heinrich Twillman, a German immigrant whose family arrived in St. Louis in 1839.
The original building is made of handmade brick with the base of Mississippi River limestone.
There was an exterior two-story staircase in the rear of the building which has been enclosed.
When John Henry Twillman died in 1882, this house and the surrounding 374 acre farm was divided among his family.
In 1911 the house was described as “a large-old-fashioned brick structure to which age has lent a certain dignity and it is now one of the most imposing and beautiful country homes in this section of the county.”
Twillman descendants lived in the building until 1945 when Carl & Mary Plith purchased it and opened the Meadowlark Restaurant. In 1974 John and Mary Spiller opened the Old Homestead Restaurant here.
The one-story frame addition on the south side of the house was built when the home became a restaurant.
In 2005 the Spanish Lake Community Association purchased the building to use as a home for the association and a Community Center for the residents of the unincorporated community of Spanish Lake.
Date of Photograph: ca. 1870
