Let’s head south, deep into South St. Louis County and check out some very old historic sites. Our first stop is St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Oakville, which was probably originally a German Evangelisch church. There are multiple expansions here, including a Modernist sanctuary as well as an English Gothic Revival church building facing…
Tag: South County
Lakeshire
I know an acquaintance who lives in the small South County city of Lakeshire, so I finally made it out there after becoming intrigued by its appearance through Google Street View. Apparently the town has restrictions that only ranch houses can be built, but that is only partially true as there is a belt of…
Grantwood Village
In the late 1920s, the R. Mederacke Realty and Investment Company began the development of what was originally known as Grantwood Terrace, just to the east of Grant’s Farm on Gravois Road. Lots were at least 100 feet wide and ranged from 240 to 350 feet deep. Architectural styles were typical of the time period…
The End of Rock Alva
Thanks to a tip, I learned that Rock Alva’s last central portion (the majority of the estate had already been sold off) was recently sold and subdivided off into a small housing development. The only building to survive is the stable, where the Griesediecks used to skeet shoot. I do not know what its future…
Flora Terrace, Affton
Only a week before the infamous Stock Market Crash of 1929, a new subdivision was being advertised down Gravois Road, boasting of its quick drive to its intersection of Grand Boulevard. Flora Terrace soon saw the development of the standard architectural styles of the 1930s and 40s, with some later styles thrown in later. I…
Oakland House, Revisited at Twilight
I first looked at Oakland House way back in October of 2008, and I found myself there in early December again. Constructed by the Benoist Family in 1853 according to designs by the great George I. Barnett, it was one of a whole garland of Italianate villas that once graced the outskirts of St. Louis,…
Grant’s Farm, Mid-June 2023
The Busch Family Ownership Group (minus Billy and Adolphus IV) welcomes you to Grant’s Farm! We paid an evening visit to the Busch family estate recently. I learned the structure below was the ice skating building. This was part of the original holdings of the Dent Family, and the Hardscrabble log cabin is one of…
Former Mount Saint Rose Sanitorium
Always question why there’s an old stone wall along a major roadway in St. Louis! I was doing some research on a gentleman whose death was recorded in the “Deaths Outside of St. Louis,” but yet he was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery the next day. He clearly did not die very far away from the…
Royale Orleans
Either you’ve experienced the St. Louis tradition of the Royale Orleans and its mostaccioli, or you haven’t. Perhaps you’ve even been there numerous times over the decades. One time after a wedding the caterer told us we could take the ice sculpture off the banquet table. That was a really dumb idea and we ended…