West Olive, Grand Center

Update: More like $500,000 to $1,000,000. They’re coming along on building the $300,000 houses on West Olive Street in Grand Center, and the lake I had photographed before is now gone. The new houses actually have some panache, and are turning out better than I expected. However, what was demolished could have easily been saved….

Revisiting Carondelet: Minnesota Avenue Between Mott and Iron Streets

On the other side of Minnesota Avenue from The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet is this row of houses, many showing alterations from the passage of time. The cornices are missing here and there, but overall they look much the same as they probably did a century ago. The proliferation of tan brick also…

Revisiting Carondelet: Michigan Avenue Between Nagel and Robert Streets

Up next is another row of houses from the 1880s and 90s on the west side of Michigan south of Nagel down towards Robert Street. This block was clearly developed later, with a preponderance of Romanesque Revival houses on larger parcels. This house anchors the northwest corner with Robert with this round tower with a…

Revisiting Carondelet: Michigan Avenue Between Mott and Haven Streets

Mott and Michigan starts out with a large commercial building, with apartments upstairs. But then there are some fantastic single family houses, from a variety of eras. Sadly, one of the nicest ones that is shown below is abandoned. But then there are some nice red brick houses with what were originally shingle detailing with…

East of Saint Louis University Hospital, In Transition

Update: I revisited the area in the fall of 2022. I was worried about the blocks east of Grand Boulevard and the SLU medical campus that I include in the Tiffany neighborhood, but is really part of the greater Compton Hill area, a richly historic African American community. SLU had been buying up huge swaths…

Around Ashland Avenue, The Greater Ville

Two years ago, I wrote the following about the houses above that I photographed on a cold, gray morning: “And then, there is a small pocket of Modern bungalows, which if this neighborhood’s trend continues, might very well have been part of a quarry operation or always open space before these were built around or…

Benton Place, East Side

We looked at the west side of Benton Place yesterday where we went through much of the history, so we’ll jump right in to the houses on the east side of the private place in Lafayette Square, where there is a remarkable amount of preservation with only one demolished house that has been replaced by…

Around Tower Grove East, Winter 2020-21

Remember, if you’re going down a street with a bunch of houses from the 1910s, and all the sudden there are houses from the 1950s, you need to do some investigating. Yes, it may have just been where a house burned down, or maybe a livery stable yard, but sometimes there is something really cool…