I stumbled across some old photographs by William Swekosky of the noted ruined stone house on Missouri Avenue in Lafayette Square, which I have looked at extensively over the years, particularly in July of 2018, but I briefly glanced at it back in May of 2022 when I was examining some new in-fill.
What is revealing is that Swekosky identifies the building as a dairy, and not as a single family house, which is what I believe it was built as originally.
While it’s built into the side of a hill now, I believe that when first constructed the house was on flat land and later street grading created the current lay of the land.
When this house is finally restored, these old photographs will prove crucial in rebuilding it accurately.
I think that at this point, since there is so little left of the original structure, it makes more sense to stabilize the ruins than to rebuild what would basically be a reproduction building, especially with the low construction quality of what would be rebuilt (it would not be monolithic stone walls or large, old growth beams, just stone veneer and pine twigs).
I completely agree that stabilizing the ruins might be the best approach at this point. Sometimes keeping the remnants of the past intact tells a more powerful story than trying to rebuild from scratch.
“Well-2b-honest”..”Aye-think-That-the”..”R uinEd-ReMains-of-This”..”Old-DaiRy-BuiL DinG-should-Be-ConSiDerEd-as”..”ProTec Ted-RubBle”..”When-it-Comes-to-The”..”La FayEtte-SqAre-SecTions-of”..”SouTh-SaIn t-LouIs-CiTy”… ( |:<) )-]•••
I have noticed a few of your comments on St. Louis Patina. What is up with the formatting you use on your comments?