Each July when the temperature sizzles, I start looking for a getaway close to home that will make me feel like I’m a million miles away.
I look for places with rolling hillsides, wooded river bluffs, lakes and cooler temperatures – a place that has good food, libations and diversions. St. Albans, Missouri is such a place.
Located about 10 minutes from the St. Louis County line, St. Albans has attracted the well healed since the early 1900s, first discovered as a summer getaway by Theodore Link, the architect of St. Louis Union Station.
At the turn of the 20th century, Link built his studio cottage, as well as the summer home for one of his wealthiest clients, International Shoe Company’s co-founder Oscar Johnson and his wife, Irene. The Johnsons’ summer house, equivalent in stature and as palatial as the Gilded Age mansion the Vanderbilts’ built on the east coast, The Breakers is now dubbed The Studio at the Inns at St. Albans, a stunning Romanesque stylized mansion perched on a hillside overlooking the Missouri river valley.
When the Johnsons occupied The Studio back in the 1920s, the area boomed. Irene invited friends, who made the easy commute by rail to come and stay overnight. Her guests simply hopped aboard the Rock Island Railroad for the short ride whose tracks conveniently passed through St. Albans.
“St. Albans is where the wealthiest St. Louisans spent their summers. The men would commute by train into the city while their wives spent the day lunching and playing bridge. The men would take the train back to St. Albans and have dinner,” said Datra Herzog, the owner of the Inns at St. Albans, who has painstakingly restored and expanded the property. Herzog’s goal is to reestablish St. Albans as a luxury destination while preserving its history and quaint village atmosphere. The project began with Link’s magnificent stone mansion, the Old Barn Inn, and Head’s Store, the Inns oldest and most historic gems.
The Old Barn was originally a part of a working farm dating back to 1843. Irene converted it into The Old Barn Inn in 1928 to provide extra room to accommodate her overnight guests. Over the years, The Old Barn’s restaurant gained a reputation for its fried chicken and country buffets. Head’s Store, The Old Barn, and the Studio became the core properties of the Inns at St. Albans. The complex grew to include The Old Barn Cottages, the renovated 1930s Farm House, Links Cottage, Pomps Chapel and the newly opened lodge – a new build that blends nicely into the historic landscape, and offers spectacular lakeside views from its front porch rockers.
After The Old Barn closed in the 1950s, it morphed into the Malmaison Restaurant, operated by Simone and Gilbert Andujar, who was the first to establish it as a dining destination for French cuisine. It attracted gourmets and gourmands – what food lovers were once called before society lumped them together collectedly as foodies.
Listed on the National Register for Historic Places in 2003 is Head’s Store. Built in 1892, it originally opened as the St. Albans General Store and doubled as the post office. In 1915, John Pfeiffer bought the store. Pfeiffer’s daughter, Mae Head, bought the store from her father in 1941, and changed the name. Many visitors still remember Mae, who ran the store herself, selling sundries and sandwiches until her death in 2002.
“Because the Inns at St. Albans is a grouping of individual properties, we’re able to offer a different range of experiences to visitors and guests, beginning with a traditional lodge experience in our new 12-room lodge,” said Schuyler Clark, general manager of The Inns at St. Albans. “The Old Barn Inn and its pavilion and patio hosts events, while its four cottages provide another type of overnight experience. Link’s Cottage, the Farm House and the Studio Inn overlook our vineyard.”
Clark is especially excited about the vineyard because this year it is planning to release its first private label wine.
Wines are just one of the items available at Head’s Store, along with a casual fare menu that reflects the interior’s redesign. The menu honors St. Albans railroad history with sandwiches named for the Rock Island trains, such as the Texas Rocket (smoked brisket) and the Zephyr Rocket (tarragon chicken salad). Look for the chef’s daily dining car specials: meatloaf on Wednesday, and the Friday fish fry plates.
Executive Chef Scott Phillips, who along with Head Chef Cory Ellsworth are credited with creating the menus for the Inns culinary service, which includes custom events and popup dining. Keep an eye out for the popup wine dinners planned for The Old Barn and its adjunct pavilion.
Head’s Store is open Wednesday through Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Operating hours are driven by the season. For example, from now through mid-October, live music is the centerpiece for Head’s Store’s Friday Porch Parties, which run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. On Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m., Head’s host “SipInn” Sundays. The Rock Island Creamery, located inside Head’s Store, will scoop its special made frozen creams now through Labor Day. Try to make a stop before July ends – July is National Ice Cream Month – a great time to enjoy a scoop or two.
For those simply wishing to pickup a grab-and-go lunch to enjoy lakeside, consider Head’s gourmet picnic basket, a custom packed with choices like charcuterie, cheeses, wine and other treats.
“We pretty much have everything you need for a picnic. Just let us know how many people you plan to share your basket with, and we’ll do the rest,” Clark said. “We even include the basket and picnic blanket with each picnic ordered. Its one of those little extras we provide to help make memorable experiences.”
As a culinarian who has taught thousands how to cook, I’m most excited to go back to class at the Inns International Choux Cooking School, which is reopening in August. The ICCS, now located across the street from Head’s Store, was first established a few years ago and operated within The Old Barn complex. It’s now housed in Pomp’s Chapel, another addition that is attached to the restored Links Cottage. Classes and culinary camps will feature chefs, bakers, authors and other food professionals who will offer a mix of hands-on cooking classes, demonstrations, excursions and tastings.
Cooking classes kick off the season with a weekend culinary camp entitled Foraging and the Edible Plants Around Us, Aug. 27-29.
The cooking school is another getaway foodies can enjoy with overnight lodging included in the price. However, if you attend the cooking school or not, the Inns at St. Albans are ready to greet visitors just like Irene did over a century ago. So stop by and party like its 1920, or simply come to sip and relax and take in the landscape. Either way, St. Albans is not far away, but provides an elapse that feels like you’re a million miles away.
