Second Empire Corner Store

This corner store shows the density of the neighborhood, with two store fronts, and a back staircase that goes up to apartments above, where many owners would live above their businesses.

The House on the Hill

What I love about St. Louis architecture is how every building tells a story. Take this little guy, on the north side of Fox Park. Why is it sitting so weirdly up high? Well, most likely it was because this houses was built before the streets were graded, so this house was built on the…

More Italianate Houses, Fox Park

But then as the years went by, the old row houses began to split apart, leaving narrow gangways in between the buildings. I love these Italianate houses since they create a “rhythm” down the street.

Vanished Potential

This house once had neighbors. Then Interstate 44 came through, and annihilated this neighborhood. It’s taken decades, and a lot of hard work, to put it all back together. I’ll openly confess to using 44 all the time, but having lived in Washington, DC, where most of the inner city interstates were never built, I…

“True” Row Houses

I call a house that shares a wall structurally (not simply contiguous with two side walls) a “true row house.” There used to be thousands of them around the city, mainly built up to around 1880. What after that, houses start to split apart, usually in the standard three or six foot distance. I like…

Italianate Houses North of Russell Boulevard

Like nearby Lafayette Square, there are many Italianate houses, often with some Greek Revival influence in the pitched roofs and dormers. St. Louis architecture styles often transition between two “pure” styles with an intermediate style. On a related note, here is another edition of “Which house is the crooked one?” I love this house with…

Second Empire Houses, North of Russell Boulevard

There are many Second Empire houses southwest of Lafayette Square that have been separated by Interstate 44 and the widened Jefferson Avenue. But there are some spectacular houses in great condition, including some rare rounded Mansard Roof examples, as well. But I love when you come around the corner, the Mansard Rood stops past the…

Second Empire Beauty

I like those houses that are built right up against the property line, with a fire wall that goes up past the roof line.