Tucked away in a shaded lot, surrounded by dozens of early Twentieth Century apartment buildings, is this one house, in what could be best described as Shingle Style mixed with some Romanesque Revival styles.
Built in 1882, this house must have been out in the middle of nowhere, and surely the original builders expected more stately homes to follow. But they never did, and by 1915, developers built the two apartment buildings on either side.
Interestingly, the Sanborn maps show that the house indeed sat out in undeveloped land–across from a giant greenhouse. Was the owner of the greenhouse the builder of the house?
The architect Richard Claybour lived in the house for many years, but I gather he’s moved to Michigan and the house is on the market.
The greenhouses interest me quite a bit as my building, built in 1923, now stands on that corner. They look like they must have been huge.
According to an obituary of James Young in the 21 November 1918 issue of _The Florists’ Review_, Christopher Young and his family came to St. Louis from England via Canada in 1860. The Youngs “started in the florists’ business in a small way at Belt and Waterman avenues. … A few years later it had become the largest greenhouse establishment in St. Louis.”
The complete obituary is here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=SMQ9AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA23
Here are a few images of C. Young & Sons seed catalogs. The 1896 catalog lists an address of 1406 Olive St., which would have been close to the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall, now the site of the Central Library.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/421368108856624976/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/351351208401849793/
Chris, it does indeed look like a member of the C. Young & Sons family dwelt in the house at 5511 Waterman.
The proceedings 23rd convention of the Society of American Florists (1907) list Henry Young at the house at 5511 Waterman. William C. Young was at 1406 Olive St.
http://books.google.com/books?id=juNNAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA206
Awesome, thanks!