Built in 1856 it is located in the civil parish (county) of St. John the Baptist. It was built by
Edmond Marmillion to resemble the grand style of the paddlewheel passenger boats that traveled the Mississippi River. He died shortly after it was completed and his son Valsin inherited it.
Valsin wanted his house to be seen from the River and he spent a fortune on his fanciful house. He spent so much money achieving his dream that he gave it the nickname "Sans Frusquin" that in English roughly stands for "without a red cent." The natives in the area corrupted the phrase to San Francisco and so it stands on the Great River Road in Louisiana with the name of San Francisco.
Frances Parkinson Keyes, who wrote many rich books about the Louisiana life and landscape, used this house as the background for her novel "Steamboat Gothic."
In 1976 the house and grounds and fields were sold to Marathon Oil and the house is surrounded entirely by Marathon's operations. The house has been restored to its former grandeur with five ceiling frescoes, original paint colors, faux marbre and faux bois. The house is open to the public for tours at a fee.