Wydown Forest is another one of those subdivisions that developed along Hanley Road, and when we look at the plat map for it above (north and south are inverted), we see like many of these early Twentieth Century automobile suburbs, there are triangular parks placed at strategic locations, creating long vistas and curving lines. Wydown…
Tag: Spanish Revival
Hampton Park
Oops, I accidentally wandered into Hampton Park, which is southeast of the intersection of Hanley and Clayton roads. This is a later design of Julius Pitzman, platted in 1897, and one of his most important outside of the City of St. Louis. The earliest home dates from 1909. Like Lake Forest, across Hanley, this area…
Forsyth Boulevard West of the City Limits
It dawned on me that Forsyth Boulevard west of Forest Park is the natural continuation of that parade of mansions along Lindell Boulevard, many designed by Maritz and Young, that terminates at Washington University. As was already present on Lindell, the houses are positioned laterally towards the street wall, reflecting their owners’ reliance on the…
Moorlands / Claverach Park
I almost certainly will go back, but I made a first foray into one of the most interesting and beautiful additions to Clayton, just west of Big Bend Boulevard and Forest Ridge and Southmoor, and south of Brentmoor. Developed by the Moorlands Land Company, Moorlands Park, now known as Claverach Park, was platted in May…
St. Mary’s Hospital, Winter 2024
Wow, just look at what St. Mary’s Hospital used to look like almost one hundred years ago when they had moved from their Near South Side location. The wing on the left was demolished back in 2010, which seems like a million years ago. There is a little bit of a wing, perhaps built in…
More of the Moorlands, Part Two
We continue on Cromwell before turning left onto Audobon and then another left onto Wellington Way. By the way, a moorland is a highland with grasses and savannahs, particularly common in England. It is no surprise then that the name was chosen for a neighborhood built when the Tudor Revival was so popular. But the…
Former Immanuel Congregational Church
Looking at the former Immanuel Congregational Church from the southwest on Jamieson Avenue, you would think that you have your standard Colonial Revival church. But look closer at the color of the brick on the nave, and come around to the northwest side where you spot the belltower; this church was originally constructed in a…
Indian Village, Detroit
Cruising by Mr. Fish on my way to Grosse Pointe on the East Vernon Highway, I stumbled onto a mirage, a neighborhood of perfectly preserved houses along several long blocks with stately trees known as Indian Village due to several, but not all, of its streets being named after Native American nations. Indian Village is…
West Boston Boulevard, Detroit
I took in a bit of the Boston-Edison Historic District, traveling east down West Boston Boulevard just west of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Chicago Boulevard and some other streets compose the large neighborhood, where some of the most important figures in Detroit history, including automobile executives, lived. As would be expected, the…
The Grande Ballroom and Grand River Avenue, Detroit
One place I wanted to visit in Detroit was the Grande Ballroom on Grand River Avenue, northwest of downtown. While the building has been abandoned for decades, it once played a pivotal role in the development of rock and roll, particularly as it was where the band MC5 played early in their career. Other very…