Built in 1905 for John L. Miers, the house at the northwest corner of Midland Avenue and Smiley Road is now threatened with demolition.
Miers was president of the United Railways streetcar company, and rather appropriately, a line ran right out front of the house (though obviously he could have afforded his own transportation). It dawned on me that Midland Boulevard (and Avenue) is basically the old right-of-way of the line out to Creve Coeur Lake Park, which was a popular day trip at the turn of the century.
Designed by Barnett, Haynes and Barnett, it is one of the myriad of country estates in the North County and northwest St. Louis County area, which are not well known but are very interesting.
It later served as the Normandy Athletic Club, and friends told me they remember when there was still a pool on the grounds.
Its future is now uncertain, but I noticed there is a lot of new construction in the area, so the land is desirable, and developers certainly would want to get a hold of the property to subdivide it.
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/business/article_65f53eec-060a-44a2-8a2e-cb55c17baa81.html
Headline from May 13, 2025, St. Louis Post-Dispatch article I posted in previous comment: “Old stone mansion in Maryland Heights to be torn down for senior homes”
How stupid. Buildings like this can easily be repurposed into offices. The architect must completely suck ass at architecture to have so little imagination. I’m sure the entire development will be trash with such a great mind behind it.
I’m surprised this isn’t on a historic register. Even if not, how wasteful / foolish / greedy to consider replacing this with cheap veneer new construction when the real deal sits awaiting reuse! Is there no other vacant land in the region that a developer could occupy in lieu of tearing this down?
How about incorporating this building into the plans for a new senior home complex? Nah, that would require too much creativity, and wouldn’t maximize profits…
I used to live right by there and knew the old owner Beth, she raised mastiffs there and i played with them on the 10 acers, i was told she got it for $50k back in the 90s when it was abandoned. This place is a part of my childhood and i wish i could go inside one last time before it is destroyed. Would love to go with this photographer and have pictures of the inside.
Where I live in Maine a seaside senior development is anchored by an old mansion. I believe it has condo units as well as common areas in the former residential building. There are semidetached units on the large acreage around it. Perhaps it’s not too late for a change of plans here. They should do something similar!