Bungalow, Tower Grove East
These beautiful houses are in danger in Tower Grove East; they’re getting their roofs and guts ripped out, and ugly second floors, made out of cheap pine 2x4s and vinyl siding, are being slapped on top of them. I’m tired of it.
Ridgeview Place
My family and I thought it would be fun to go by the condominium development built off the side of our normal house subdivision and see how things were going. Wait a minute, what the heck is up with those downspouts?!
Greenwood Cemetery, Summer 2019
I made a detour by Greenwood Cemetery, which is the last resting place of Harriett Scott among many other famous African Americans, and I was excited to see that volunteers working under the direction of the non-profit that now manages the historic burial ground have made amazing progress. Update: There are in fact still some…
The Bend in Gravois Avenue
Many of my longtime readers probably know by now that major arteries such as Gravois or North Florissant were widened due to a bond issue passed by voters back in the first decades of the Twentieth Century. Amazingly, Gravois Avenue was a two-lane street before this. But what you might not realize is that between…
Side Streets, Lafayette Square, July 2019
I’ve looked at the side streets of Lafayette Square before, and I returned to them again to look at the houses that are often forgotten in favor of the more famous one around the park. What fascinates me about the houses above is their similarity to a row of houses I have photographed on the…
Benton Park, Summer 2019
Update: I went back to the area in the summer of 2020. Benton Park is such a beautiful neighborhood, with such an interesting and varied housing stock, which makes it one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. These pictures are from the blocks just south of the park, around Withnell and Illinois avenues.
Robert’s “Home Like” Funeral Parlor
It’s hard to believe now, but much of South Grand was once lined with mansions such as the one you see above, which is at the southwest corner of the intersection with Shaw. This one was turned into a funeral parlor for much of its history.
West Cabanne Place, Summer 2019
I had seen a dumpster on the side of the Theodore Link house back in 2014, but the renovation is done, as you can see now. I have no idea what the shingles’ color were originally, but they are dramatically different than the most recent dark brown color. There’s a photograph of the house from…