More apartment buildings with generous porches for each unit continue the trend of the western end of Pershing Avenue, but there is more in-fill on lots probably left over from the covering of the River des Peres. A rare Georgian, or Colonial Revival apartment building, complete with rounded front porches, stood out to me. And…
Tag: Forest Park North and West
Skinker-DeBaliviere #24, 6100 Block of Pershing Avenue
Down closer to Forest Park Parkway, there are more apartment buildings, but they still are elegant, and I noticed many Washington University students coming and going. There are still single family houses, as well, and some in-fill, for that matter. The streetscape below is a perfect example of how builders successfully create a sense of…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #23, 304-310 N. Skinker Boulevard
Constructed in 1909, this interesting apartment building is owned by Bobb LLC, also known as Washington University. It is a curious building, with two different brick colors, which do not make sense from a compositional standpoint; the curved bay windows along the alley look newer, or perhaps were they heavily repaired for some reason? I…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #22, 316-320 N. Skinker Boulevard
City records say this stunning apartment building was built in 1909, shortly after the World’s Fair was over and the city was moving out to the former festival grounds and new subdivisions on the edge of St. Louis. It was a solidly middle class building, with professional city employees, other upper middle class residents, but…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #21, The Tudor Revival Apartment Building
Then there’s this edifice, on Waterman Boulevard, that was designed as a cogent whole as a Tudor Revival apartment building with a massive open lawn in the middle, akin to Kensington Palace. The developer clearly did not try to maximize the amount of apartments he could fit on the lot, but chose to go for…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #20, The U-Shaped Apartment Building
This looks like one building, right? But looking closer, from up above, we realize this is actually, like most large apartment buildings that are not towers, really just four or six-family flats lumped together. This building is really just that: six buildings put together. It works well, and is a beautiful composition.
Skinker-DeBaliviere #19, 6100 Block of Waterman Boulevard
My old joke is that St. Louis architects and builders liked to design apartment buildings that looked like houses, so people could go in and out with revealing that they were renters. The houses above and below were built as apartment buildings, but my, they are beautiful! The rest of Waterman Boulevard has houses and…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #18, 6000 Block of Waterman Boulevard
The 6000 block of Waterman is perhaps one of the most diverse blocks in the neighborhood architecturally, with a fascinating mix of houses and apartment buildings, including this interesting one below, which again was probably built after the River des Peres was diverted into a tunnel under the street above. In fact, when I was…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #17, 5900 Blocks of McPherson and Waterman
The River des Peres’ legacy lives on in the avenue that bears its name, and the idiosyncratic architecture that lines the cross streets. The apartment building above got an awesome new facade sometime in the late 1960s or 70s, while these little Modernist bungalows fit in well. But then away from the former river channel,…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #16, 6000 Block of McPherson Avenue
While houses on the busy intersections with Skinker are designed with two public facades, even back in the neighborhood at the corners with Rosedale, architects carefully composed the homes to look rational and grounded from both streets. Just say no to white trim all the time.