History

John Anselmo Rusca

This 100+ year old Queen Anne Victorian was built in the 1880’s by Giovanni (John) Anselmo Rusca. Rusca first arrived in Natchitoches, Louisiana at the end of the Civil War, June 1865. The trip to the United States began when he left Torricella, Switzerland, at the age of 16, to travel to the newly discovered oil fields of western Pennsylvania for work. He shipped out from Genoa, Italy and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1857. Vowing to never set foot aboard a boat again, due to horrible sea sickness, he remained in the United States where he registered as a soldier in the Confederate Army. He was taken prisoner and finally released at the end of the war in Shreveport. He heard of a family living in Natchitoches who were originally from Novaggio, only 10-15 km from his home in Switzerland. Rusca traveled to Natchitoches and met Maria Theresa Delmonico. Maria’s father, a fresco painter, was hired along with his four cousins, by the Catholic Church in Switzerland, to decorate the interiors of the new Catholic Church in Natchitoches. Maria Theresa was 15 and Giovanni was 24 when they married July 19, 1865. Together they had nine children.

Marie Therese Delmonico Rusca

Giovanni Rusca (now known as John Anselmo) became a very successful merchant in Natchitoches. His general mercantile store was located at the corner of Poete and Jefferson Street. The store offered everything from candy to furniture and was successful until his death at the age 78 on July 13, 1920. Maria Theresa passed away some 29 years later at age 99 on January 4, 1949.

The house has changed hands several times since the Rusca family left it in 1949. Some adjustments have been made, but much of the home’s architecture, such as the front doors, the turned balustrades, the gabled bay, and the cypress pocket doors in the dining room have remained intact throughout the years.

- from the personal files of John Armitage Rusca, M.D., Great-grandson of Giovanni Rusca.

Restoration

The home was purchased in June of 2001 by Ben and Keri Fidelak and underwent a painstaking historic restoration.

Because the Fidelaks were dedicated to maintaining the architectural integrity of the home, all materials removed in the preservation process were salvaged and reused whenever possible. This was the case with the foundation which had to be completely reset to save the structure of the home. Many brick pilings had to be torn out and rebuilt. Each brick was hand cleaned and reused in building the main support pillars under the east façade.

Lumber was purchased in bulk and hand milled with a custom forged carpenter’s knife to insure the exact replication of the original siding. The Fidelaks opened the home to the public on November 20, 2001.

The home was purchased in April of 2006 by Ken and Pam Steele.