The House
A cottage on Main Street
On the National Register of Historic Places, and home to a restaurant since the 1970s.
The Building
Two nineteenth-century cottages, made one
The Sycamore House occupies a National Register property overlooking historic Main Street in old town Bay St. Louis. Originally a pair of nineteenth-century Acadian cottages, the two sides were combined into a single dwelling in the 1850s.
The home was long known as the Mauffray Boarding House, after the Mauffray family who took in seasonal visitors. Today the cottage is a fully modern restaurant whose two dining rooms, screened porch, and patio remain in tune with its laid-back historic atmosphere, shaded by the mature oaks that have stood over Main Street for generations.
The Chefs
Stella LeGardeur & Michael Eastham
In the fall of 2002, Stella and Michael came to the Gulf Coast in search of a home and a restaurant, and found both in the former Mauffray boarding house, which had been a restaurant since the 1970s. They named it The Sycamore House in honor of Michael's grandmother, whose British home of the same name was a source of inspiration and joy to him as a child.
Both completed rigorous training at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She apprenticed with pastry master Dieter Schorner; both of them cooked with Ric Orlando at New World Home Cooking. Both have since won recognition for their culinary skills, though the pleasure of welcoming guests to the home they have created eclipses any other achievement.
They delight in sharing their love of food, and extend a warm welcome to you, their guests.
Stella and Michael hope you will leave filled with the same delight that prompted them to name their restaurant after a home where wit, embracing hospitality, beauty, and great meals were the norm.