Let’s start out this tour of these magnificent apartment buildings in northwest Dutchtown with a bang. One of my favorite complexes is the giant apartments at the t-bone intersection (or is it a dog-leg in Giles Avenue?). Built in 1931, like most apartment buildings of its type in St. Louis, it is really just a series of four-family flats built right next to each other, which can be easily seen from aerial images.

But something about this complex is more successful; the facade around the u-shaped courtyard is more unified than most, and the interesting pop-out gables and rusticated stone give the appearance of a small English village in the countryside.

Slate shingles, with an occasional off-colored tile to give a sense of the picturesque, contrast with the half-timber construction.

To unify the two halves of the complex, there is a gateway with rough-hewn stone.

The other half of the complex is more or less a mirror image.

This tower, with the hulking rusticated field stone base and the half-timber second story and pyramid slate roof, is one of my favorite details in the whole neighborhood.

But then look: there is a green terracotta classical swag thrown in incongruously!

A false balcony with leaded windows and curved doors provide further detailing to this apartment, as well as a stone buttress on the corner.