St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Normandy along Natural Bridge Road dates to 1953 and is not the first building on the site. The parish dates back to 1854, when Ann Lucas Hunt donated land for the church. The current church was designed by Joseph Murphy, who along with Eugene Mackey, also designed Resurrection in Dutchtown. Ann was the daughter of Jean Baptish Charles Lucas; there is a large family plot in Calvary Cemetery.
The large statue on the front of the church’s front facade is St. Ann, the mother of the Virgin Mary, and is obviously the patron saint of Ann Lucas Hunt, the donor of the land.
The new church, opening in 1952, makes it one of the oldest Modernist designs in St. Louis for a religious structure.
The sides of the church are flanked by lower wings.
The apse is dominated by a large stained glass window.
The interior of the church shows how the focus is on the high altar, and light only reaches the nave through skylights and the apse window; the side elements preclude more windows.
The stained glass window is one of the larger in the Modernist style in St. Louis.
There is a large wing, perhaps the rectory, out the back.
The school building, clearly older than the church and dating from 1926, sits to the northwest along Natural Bridge Road.
The Sisters of Loreto taught at the school for years and while they no longer serve, learning continues in the building.
Murphy and Mackey were champion modernist architects and may have done the Queen Tower , too. St. Ann’s is timeless and should be an inspiration to architectural students today who seem to be influenced by other trends ? Thanks for this post .
I agree.
It’s fascinating to see how St. Ann’s blends modernist architecture with the deep historical roots of St. Louis. I never realized how important Ann Lucas Hunt’s legacy was in shaping the church. The stained glass window must be breathtaking in person.
I agree.