The VonEime Farm became the Sunset Country Club when Eberhard Anheuser and Adolphus Busch bought the property around 1910.
The farmhouse, from the 1850s, was stuccoed and became a dormitory for female country club workers.
Sitting on Hadley Hill Road, there appears to have been some other structure near the farmhouse. The club house is on the other side of the property.
Oooh, original copper lightning rods (…and those diamond-shaped replacement shingles, likely containing asbestos! Yikes!). Seeing that the site slopes away from the house (smart), I wonder if the deep eaves originally precluded the addition of gutters.
I always wondered about this house – I used to ride my bike on Hadley Hill Road, which is is just across Gravois from Hilltop Drive, where I grew up – Hilltop Drive itself is almost completely unrecognizable, since Sunset Hills ended at Gravois & where we were was unincorporated, thus UNzoned & thus, McMansions have taken over what was, until 80’s at least, a quiet, not-quite-country road.
At the head of Hadley Hill Road used to stand a quite grand mansion which in our time belonged to the “Mill Hill Fathers” – a rest home for priests, which had the most fabulous rummage sales.]
The House’s fancy gates vanished with the widening of Gravois in the late 70’s (approximate time?) & the house itself I think was gone by 84, when my mom sold our place…
The St. Louis diaspora thanks you for your wonderful blog.
James Middleton
Since you’re in the neighborhood, are you going to do Whitehaven? I never knew about it until after Ileft the area, & finally went to see it on my recent (July) visit to St. Louis.
I have been there–surprised I haven’t snapped any pictures. Will do that soon.
p.s. – you said that “there appears to have been another structure near the farmhouse” – there was, quite close, catty-corner to its left. It looked to me like another house of later date. Surprised it’s gone.
Interesting…I guess they tore it down recently?
My recollection of it was that it was a more pretentious house, I I distinctly remember the farmhouse & the other as making a quite nice little courtyard.
Thanks for the post.
There used to be a very large mansion there. Decedent’s of the Bush family still owned the property until the the early 2000’s Drove past a few weeks ago and shocking the mansion was gone.
Lisa, can you give me the approximate address? I’m interested in this. Do you know how old the mansion was that was demolished?