Update: See a variant of these types of four-family apartment buildings in the Greater Ville. Shenandoah Avenue has some amazing buildings, including these two four-family flats. They were built for the middle class, dispelling myths about these buildings being for low-income residents. Bob Reuter lived in the above building.
Tag: Fox Park
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
Update: I revisited this house in October of 2025 (fifth photo). 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…
More Italianate Houses, Fox Park
Update: I revisited these houses in October of 2025. 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
Update: I revisited this house in October of 2025 (sixth photo). 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,…
“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?” Update: I revisited this house…
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…
The Storefronts, Geyer Avenue in Between California and Oregon
These little storefronts were once surrounded by a neighborhood, but now they sit on a narrow strip of land south of the interstate. Is there little wonder that there is no use for them now?
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.