 A bedroom at the Stone Giraffe has a window wall with a view. (Photo by Barbara Winnerman) |
"This is the real deal," LaBoube says while walking down a gravel road to the farm guesthouse which sits amid a collection of tidy red barns, silos and corrals.
"It has been in my family for over a hundred years and remains a working cattle farm," he says, gesturing toward a herd of cows grazing along a creek flowing through the property at the base of a picturesque hillside.
A few miles closer to town, LaBoube opens the front door of a home perched along a ridgeline. An impressive glass window wall that soars 20 feet offers a spectacular view of Hermann in the valley below. "The farm is my family heritage," he says, "but I built the Stone Giraffe for myself."
THE BASICS: From 1904 until 2001 the 150-acre
LaBoube farm five miles outside Hermann was home to three generations of
LaBoubes.
In 1999, when LaBoube ended a 20-year career traveling the world in the
pipeline construction business, he returned to Hermann. "I was ready to stay
home," he says.
With a desire to continue to operate the farm but not live in the house, one
of his first projects was to convert the family home into a guesthouse while
salvaging the original beaded wooden ceiling and honey-colored hardwood
floors. I wanted to take the interior back to the original look," he says.
Hidden behind plaster walls he discovered a log cabin dating to the mid-1800s.
Today the hand-hewn logs remain as interior walls.
THE UNIQUE: In 2005 LaBoube purchased the home that is now the Stone
Giraffe with the intention of turning it into a guesthouse. He hired Sutton
Studio Architects of St. Louis and gave them free design reign with
instructions to utilize the view and to incorporate material from the 1850
barn on the property.
The impressive result is a showplace of chic contemporary architecture using
salvaged stone and wood and featuring angular rooms accentuated by dramatic
lighting. Throughout, the simplicity of Shaker style woodwork is highlighted
with different hues of earth-tone colors.
Custom designed cherry kitchen cabinets and interior doors were built by Hans
Droog, a local artist whose woodwork, metal sculpture, paintings, ZooFari
posters for the St. Louis Zoo and beer stein designs for Anheuser-Busch
qualify him to be known as the "Michelangelo of Hermann."
"I am continually asked about the name 'Stone Giraffe,'" LaBoube says pointing
out how the raised bead of mortar used to join the fieldstones that form
several guest house walls creates the unmistakable pattern of a giraffe's
skin.
THE ROOMS: The Stone Giraffe has five guest rooms, each with a private
bath. Stone fireplaces in great rooms on upper and lower floors serve as
gathering places to watch large flat panel televisions or use the game tables.
The farm guest house has one downstairs and two upstairs bedrooms, a small
living room and an enclosed sun porch, all furnished with LaBoube family
antiques and collectibles.
THE GUESTS: Guests arrive from throughout Missouri and all surrounding
states. Some are traveling on bicycles along the nearby 250-mile Katy Trail.
THE FOOD: Each evening before dinner, Stone Giraffe guests are served a
variety of cheeses and locally produced sausages. A square angel food cake
(yes, square) topped with a berry black wine drizzle is a night-time snack,
along with miniature chocolate giraffes.
LaBoube advertises a continental breakfast served at the Stone Giraffe, but if
a guest can work a microwave, a hot make-it and serve-it-yourself meal is
possible. A freshly made quiche and locally produced sausages are always
waiting and just need to be heated. Guests who request breakfast fare ahead of
a stay will find it waiting.
A guest refrigerator stocked with local wines, plus beer and a wide assortment
of juices are included at both locations. Each also has a fully stocked
kitchen, as well as barbecue pits on outside patios.
THE HIGH POINTS: Both lodging choices are uniquely well-suited to small
groups or families anytime throughout the year, not just festival weekends for
which Hermann is best known.
LaBoube, who knows the history of each hill and tree on the farm delights in
sharing it all with guests. "I want people to leave feeling they are extended
guests, if not extended family," he says.
Visitors who mix wine and horses will find nice paddocks and plenty of hay at
the farm.
THE LOW POINTS: Farm guests should realize the cattle are, well,
"digesting" as they graze. Somewhat related is the fact that guests must pass
through the one bathroom in the guest house for access to upstairs bedrooms.
However, the house is only rented to up to six people who know one another.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The LaBoube Farm Guesthouse is $150 a night for two
and $25 for each additional person. Rooms at the Stone Giraffe begin at $225,
with discounts offered for groups and weekday rentals. For both properties,
call 1-573-486-5100; visit thestonegiraffe.com and laboubefarms.com.
bawinnie@earthlink.net