Enright Avenue is the street one block north of Delmar, and it is often in the news nowadays, first for a series of arsons, and also as the target of redevelopment–or gentrification–depending on your perspective.
The architecture is just as impressive as the Central West End, just to the south, and to be honest, more impressive in many aspects.
We see the appearance of one of those houses that I love; it looks like a single family at first glance, but it is in fact two built together to appear as one. It is abandoned but probably won’t be for long.
And as was typical of St. Louis, there is an apartment building mixed in.
The brickwork even includes a small Damascus arch below.
The red brick starts to transition to tan brick facades.
And there’s annoying street blockades, which I don’t like.
As a 4/5 yr old, I remember a family car trip from Detroit to St. Louis to visit a great aunt on that street that had the pointed steeple roof.
Chris, thanks so much for your recent focus on the amazing architecture in St Joseph. Glad you are back in St Louis. The photos this morning on Enright were a reminder about a project we considered a few years ago in the neighborhood.
We are Pilgrim Congregational Church, across from Soldan, on Kensinton. It is just a block north of Enright. Pilgrim is in the 5200 block. In the 5100 block is the Meet Me in St Louis home (actual home not the movie home) of Sally Smith Benson. She grew up in that home at 5135 Kensington. She was also the author of the books which were the basis for the movie. The somewhat recent movie, The Haunting in Venice, from the Agatha Christie mystery, again mentioned the 5135 Kensington address.
That home at 5135 Kensington was demolished in the 1990’s, but our thought was to find an exact duplicate of that home and to move it and renovate it to its original form, at least in its period furniture and decor. The home would provide history of both the movie as well as Sally Smith Benson’s life.
We would seek benefactors to fund the project and create a tourist stopping point and attended availability for folks to visit. A grant for this purpose might also be sought for this recovering neighborhood. Probably just a pipe dream, but seems like a better plan than leaving as a vacant lot for posterity.
However, our treks up and down the nearby streets never did turn up an exact duplicate. This was both good and bad news, since the lack of a duplicate prevented the project. On the other hand, it also hinted at that house being completely unique and without being part of even a pair. That’s also kind if cool.
Our focus drifted from that idea after our empty searches, but your photos today renewed that flame of interest. In your many travels in the St Louis area, do you ever remember seeing a design exactly like 5135 Kensington OR do you have a suggestion or shortcut in us trying to find one? Thanks, Chris!