Daily Dose of Blairmont 41

• 2226 Hebert Street (VHS Partners LLC, January 2006)

November 2007

Blairmont owns the second house from the left, next to the three-story one.

I can't hammer it home enough. This is not just fussy preservationists getting their gander up over "some old buildings". This is not just a matter of one man's property rights. This is not some abstract problem.

Real people live in these houses. Of the five houses shown here, three are owner occupied, and the fourth is owned by a neighbor. But then there's the Blairmont house, which is now a wildcard. Is it occupied? Will it remain so? Or will it be left vacant and open, dragging down property values, presenting a danger and a nuisance to the neighborhood?

So far, Blairmont hasn't pulled any of their usual tricks -- the windows are still intact and present; there's been no brick rustling. Maybe it's because the owners of all the buildings around it live on the block. I'd wager nobody from Blairmont lives anywhere close to here.

Links:

• 2226 Hebert at the City Assessor's database
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?