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…
Tag: Forest Park North and West
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.
Skinker-DeBaliviere #15, 6100 Block of McPherson Avenue
McPherson Avenue continues the same theme of the rest of the neighborhood, with stout front porches and a mix of Beaux-Arts temple houses and Tudor Revival country homes. The beauty of this neighborhood is that each house has the same massing, so as one walks or drives down the street, the streetscape has a pleasing…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #14, The Pedestal
I came across this little pedestal, surrounded by a gravel garden.
Skinker-DeBaliviere #13, Charing Cross
A high-rise apartment building such as this is actually rare in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, but this one sits right along Skinker, and perhaps points to a future form for the busy thoroughfare if the Great Depression had not hit St. Louis.
Skinker-DeBaliviere #12, 438 N. Skinker Boulevard
Just like 500 N. Skinker, this house works with its corner lot at McPherson and Skinker, with two prominent Tudor Revival facades. It has received a glass block renovation to its Skinker porch, no doubt to drown out the traffic. I like the rich red color of the half-timber construction contrasting with the white stucco…
Skinker-DeBaliviere #11, 6100 Block of Kingsbury Place #2
Continuing down Kingsbury Place, there are more beautiful houses, many of them with massive classically-inspired pediments with balconies peaking out between the Corinthian columns. They have all been beautifully restored, and the different colored brick facades all function together in harmony.
Skinker-DeBaliviere #10, 6100 Block of Kingsbury Place #1
Kingsbury Place, the western one, is just right off of busy N. Skinker Boulevard. The housing stock is spectacular, and rivals anything in the Central West End. There are several of these massive, “super” Dutch Colonial looking houses, with a full third floor, and even probably a usable fourth floor attic.