Walking up the hill, we realize just how steep the grade changes from the flat land along South Broadway to the heights along Michigan Avenue. There are some interesting houses along the way.

And there’s also some awesome examples of houses that were clearly built before street grading! The terrain of the area was clearly much more uneven and rugged, and the City of St. Louis did not get a chance to smooth out those rough edges until after it annexed Carondelet.

In fact, the entire east foundation wall of the house is now exposed when it was once underground. One of the reasons Carondelet was annexed was because it was broke and could not afford infrastructure improvements.

There are some nice houses, such as this triplex, on the side streets as we walk up Haven.

Woah, and speaking of another house built before street grading! That is an old house, and I would be interested in knowing its exact date.

The German Shepherd looking down from the backyard is a more recent addition.