The slender Mayfair Hotel, now a member of the Magnolia chain, strikes a narrow profile in downtown St. Louis. But it’s a very beautiful building, with some similarities to the other hotels that popped up here in the Early Twentieth Century. I seem to remember that this hotel had the first rooftop pool, supposedly.
Month: June 2016
Greek Revival, Compton Heights
Constructed in 1894, 3456 Hawthorne Boulevard would have been considered out of date with the architectural styles of the time. William F. Woerner, its owner, was a prominent lawyer in St. Louis, writing this article about murder and inheritance issues in 1924. Perhaps the Greek Revival style, so popular in courthouses, affected the choice for…
Relief Arch, Compton Heights
Little details like this, the brick relief arch transferring the weight of the wall above this limestone lintel, are what makes the houses of Compton Heights so special.
The Mysterious Wall, Russell Boulevard, Compton Heights
Apparently, before there was Compton Heights, there was an earlier Compton Heights. Laid out along what was then Pontiac, there were several huge lots facing the Compton Hill Reservoir. And I discovered this all because that wall along Russell Boulevard is clearly older than the Modernist apartment building behind it, and knew it was out…
Tudor Revival Influences, Compton Heights
Half timber construction, of fachwerk in German, is bundled under my tag “Tudor Revival,” which is really a style of architecture that dates to the transition from Gothic to Renaissance style in England. It appears throughout St. Louis, often mixed with other revival styles at the turn of the Twentieth Century, as these examples show….
Tan Brick, Compton Heights
Red brick is popular throughout the city east of Grand, but as the urban area moved west, less and less of it appeared on the front facades of houses. In Compton Heights, owners could afford to have the new tan brick on all four sides. The tan brick gives a nice, southern European feel to…
Turrets, Compton Heights
Whether influenced by the Romanesque or Renaissance Revival styles, the grand homes of Compton Heights often features turrets, with conical roofs. A little nod to the fortresses these German immigrants saw in their youth?
3463 Longfellow, Compton Heights
The first owners of this stately 1895 house seem to be William Becker, and then presumably his son and daughter-in-law John and Adele Dittmann Becker. Like many prominent St. Louisans, they participated in the masked ball celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the city. They attended church in the Central West End at…
3205 Longfellow, Compton Heights
Built in 1932, this house followed the newly fashionably Spanish Revival style, popularized by Hollywood.
3154 Longfellow, Compton Heights
Legend is the owner and builder of this 1935 house was an iron worker, or he owned an iron works, thus accounting for the elaborate iron railings and bars. Makes for an interesting story, at least.