New This Year

Update: The “new” website never happened, but the blog here has undergone revisions over the years. This year I am launching my own website that will feature most of the material I’ve posted here, and dozens of extra shots that didn’t make the cut for St. Louis Patina’s photo essays. I was also excited to…

In Search of Cragwold

Update: See additional photographs from later visits. It came to my attention recently that the Lemp family had a western outpost in St. Louis County named Cragwold, now in Kirkwood. You can read about the Lemps here in my archive of St. Louis Magazine articles; Edwin Lemp, the last son, built the Cragwold Estate. The…

Downtown Doorways

Not enough attention is paid to the entries into buildings nowadays, in my opinion. Below is the door to the Paul Brown Building. Below is the door to the Southwestern Bell Building. Below is a building’s door on the east side of Old Post Office Square, which is an excellent example of Classically inspired architecture….

Lemp Mansion

Coming Soon: Pictures of the other Lemp mansions.

Castlewood State Park

Castlewood State Park was created back in the 1970’s out of the remains of what was once a thriving resort community along the Meramec River. The name comes from the gigantic cliffs, once the edge of an inland sea, that dominate most of the park. The views from the top of the cliffs surely drew…

Sun Theater

Update: The theater was renovated in 2013-2014 into the performing arts space for a nearby charter school. Grand Center has pretty much renovated the major institutions of the neighborhood, with the exception of the Sun Theater. It sits empty, with two trees and various vegetation sprouting from its roof. Read more about the theater here…