Daily Dose of Blairmont 198

• 2338 St. Louis Avenue (Union Martin LLC, June 2008, $80,000)

October 2008

Just across the street from yesterday's house, this 2-flat building offers similar opportunities. It offers smaller and therefore more affordable units, allowing more economic diversity to exist in the area. Yet even this more affordable alternative retains handsome dignity, as shown by the fine brick porch with its carved capitals.



Standing amid a solid block of apartments buildings, single family homes, and multi-unit houses, this building represents a fine opportunity for Paul McKee to lend a true helping hand to the St. Louis Place neighborhood. I look forward to the inevitable rehab and renovation, which should restore the luster of this handsome house to its original shine.

Links:

• 2338 St Louis at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 197

• 2325 St. Louis Avenue (Noble Development LLC, August 2006, $60,000)

October 2008

Paul McKee should be especially excited to be holding this particular home. Many of his houses are in obscure or undistinguished neighborhoods (well, undistinguished relative to the high standards of inner St. Louis, at least.) This one, however, is not only a fine piece of architecture and real estate in its own right; it is also surrounded by several fabulous blocks of St. Louis Avenue's finest architecture. It faces miniature Romanesque mansions, and is neighbored by several houses unique in all of St. Louis. Only a short walk away is the beautiful greenery of St. Louis Place Park. A few short blocks beyond that lies the regionally famous Crown Candy Kitchen. Downtown is but a few minutes' drive away. The location can't be beat.

Once the house is renovated, it will surely bring in a small fortune. Mr. McKee should by rights turn a handy profit on this investment.

Links:

• 2325 St Louis at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 195

• 2811 Parnell Avenue (Dodier Investors LLC, November 2006)

October 2008

Blairmont may be a little optimistic on this one; finding a productive, neighborhood-friendly use for such a building may be a challenge. It could, obviously, serve as a gas station and convenience store; however, it seems unlikely that Blairmont would want to put such an anti-pedestrian use in the neighborhood, even here on the fringes.

But the diminutive building is hardly up the challenge of holding and defining the massively overscaled intersection of Parnell and St. Louis Avenue. I wonder if perhaps they've actually considered tearing this one down. Combining this corner lot with all the empty, under-utilized land behind it would create a truly spectacular opportunity -- the chance to rebuild an urban corner from the ground up. A three- or four-story apartment building, or an entire series of them, would not be inappropriate. Hundreds of income-generating dwelling units could occupy this land!

Links:

• 2811 Parnell at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 189

• 1930 St. Louis Avenue (N & G Ventures LLC, March 2006, $125,000)

May 2008

It is perhaps the single most beautiful building endangered by Paul McKee's destructive blockbusting. Last serving as the Price Funeral Home, its front facade features a wealth of architectural detail, including diminutive inclined columns which have long brought to my mind the works of Philadelphia architect Frank Furness. Gothic arched windows, a thick lacework balcony, floral inscriptions, ornate brackets, raised medallions, and corbeled parapet wall ends add to its rich ornamental program.




It was wisely chosen by Landmarks Association of St. Louis to represent all of McKee's buildings on the annual Eleven Most Endangered Places list. Even this amazing building is not immune from the destructive forces set loose by the widespread negligence in Blairmontland; brick rustlers damaged a corner of a rear garage annex, but fortunately did no further damage to the main section of the building.


March 2003, while still in use


March 2007, boarded up. 1937 Montgomery stands in the background at left.


May 2008. In the foreground, a dirt patch is all that remains of 1937 Montgomery.

1930 St. Louis contains a concentrated dose of the beautiful architectural embellishment found on so many Blairmont buildings, a built legacy that is being allowed to crumble and die. The building abley stands for all that is endangered by Blairmont's speculatory investment: architecture, business, homes, neighborhoods, community.

More on 1930 St. Louis Avenue at Ecology of Absence: Who Would Destroy This Building?

Links:

• 1930 St Louis at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 185

• 1508 St. Louis Avenue (VHS Partners LLC, November 2005, $28,500)

May 2008. 1508 is the large house on the left.

This house stands near the prominent intersection of St. Louis Avenue and W. Florissant. Its city history shows it to be vacant since 2000; boardups have slowly accumulated over its windows. In back, the rear wall is starting to crumble; the roof rotting away.


September 2006. The center house was owned by the LRA, and has since been demolished.


June 2003 - photograph by Kevin Kieffer


March 2003

Links:

• 1508 St Louis at the city's Geo St Louis database, including January 2007 photographs
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 184

Left to right:
• 1918 St. Louis Avenue (Larmer LLC, March 2008, $25,000)
  
• 1922 St. Louis Avenue (N & G Ventures LLC, May 2006, $100,000 - multiple properties)
  
• 1924 St. Louis Avenue (N & G Ventures LLC, January 2006, $70,000)

August 2003

Amazingly, I somehow haven't gotten an updated photograph of this prominent trio of St. Louis Avenue houses. They're all still standing, for now. And as of this year, they're all Paul McKee properties. The best I've got is this sidelong view:


May 2008

But you don't need to be told the story by this point, right?


March 2003 - the half-gabled rear wings are a very common design element of St. Louis houses.


May 2008 - the half-boarded up windows are a very common element of Paul McKee houses.


August 2003 - 1918 is clearly occupied in this photograph by Kevin Kieffer.


August 2003 - 1924 is undergoing exterior facade repairs. Photograph by Kevin Kieffer.

Links:

• 1918 St Louis at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 166

• 2825 St. Louis Avenue (Larmer LLC, January 2008, $25,000)

February 2008

Fanciful inscribed scrolls mark the limestone lintels of this red brick house on St. Louis Avenue.

With this purchase, Blairmont now has an owner-occupant surrounded. Buying up properties is no problem, but boarding them up? The cost is apparently too much to bear! The house changed hands several times in recent years before finally winding up with Paul McKee.

Links:

• 2825 St Louis at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 157

• 2629 St. Louis Avenue (VHS Partners LLC, January 2006, $75,000)

September 2006

One of Blairmont's more prominent holdings, this battered mixed-use building stands alone on an otherwise empty stretch of St. Louis Avenue. Bits of its original cast iron storefront remain, speaking of a time when this was a major commercial thoroughfare, lined with similar buildings. Brick is re-emerging from behind a layer of painted stucco.

The building was last home to Laclede Cleaners.


September 2006


February 2008


May 2008


May 2008

Links:

• 2629 St Louis at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com - right on the edge of a small gap in the site's coverage.
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 133

• 2200 St. Louis Avenue (VHS Partners LLC, March 2006, $55,000)

May 2008


August 2003

Remarkably little has changed on the outside of this St. Louis Avenue building since I first photographed it over five years ago. It features Romanesque touches in keeping with the many beautiful mansions that stand on the blocks to the east and west.


March 2003

Links:

• 2200 St Louis at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 52

• 2900-2902 St. Louis Avenue (Sheridan Place LLC, May 2007)

February 2008

This lovely Italianate house, with a stone front facade, is slated to be destroyed.





In the background can be seen the demolition of 2858 St. Louis, another Italianate building, and another Blairmont property.

Links:

• More on 2900 St. Louis at Random Talk
  
• 2900 St Louis at the City Assessor's database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 48

Left and right:

• 2842 St. Louis Avenue (MLK 3000 LLC, February 2007)
  
• 2844 St. Louis Avenue (MLK 3000 LLC, February 2007)

February 2008

St. Louis Avenue is home to many commanding buildings, powerful designs tall enough to hold their own against a street that's much wider than it needs to be. This pair is a fine if common example.


May 2007

What they haven't been able to hold out against is Blairmont ownership, and the brick thieves that so commonly accompany that status.



Fortunately, most of the damage is confined to smaller rear additions, and it is not too late to stabilize and repair the main portion of the houses. Now, whether that'll happen on Blairmont's watch... that's another matter entirely.

The buildings are visibly unsecured, and of course, as usual, the attic windows are missing. Boy, those attic windows must really be worth a lot of money!

(I had briefly thought that, perhaps, the attic windows were missing on such buildings because they'd been punched out by metal thieves trying to strip the cornice and gutters, but a quick skim through my photographs shows no correlation between the missing windows and metal stripping.)

Links:

• On the same block:
  - A small cottage
  - A beautiful intersection, destroyed
  
• 2844 St Louis at the City Assessor's database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 36

• 2829 St. Louis Avenue (N & G Ventures LLC, March 2007)

November 2007 - center-left

It's nothing special by itself, just another red brick St. Louis cottage. It's cute, but not outstanding.

But it's another Blairmont victim, another property held hostage by a company that refuses to sell, maintain, rent or renovate. It's a nuisance to its neighbors and the neighborhood, needlessly so (the houses immediately left and right are both owner-occupied.) And it threatens to become a hole in the historic fabric, a missing tooth in a run of buildings that so far has none.

The destroyed intersection of St. Louis Avenue and Glasgow is just west of here.

Links:

• 2829 St Louis at the City Assessor's database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont

Daily Dose of Blairmont 9

Such a beautiful, distinctive intersection this was! At a turn in the street grid, where Glasgow crosses St. Louis Avenue, the city's builders put forth their best efforts, simple but strong and handsome buildings vying to outdo one another in their elegance.

As of 2008, Blairmont has destroyed all these buildings.

From left to right, we have:

• 2845-2847 St. Louis Avenue (VHS Partners, August 2004)
  
• 2854-2856 St. Louis Avenue (VHS Partners, November 2005)
  
• 2858 St. Louis Avenue (VHS Partners, November 2005)

March 26, 2007


November 25, 2005

The little turreted flatiron building was a keynote for St. Louis explorers, the kind of building that makes a wandering architecture fan stop the car and pull out the camera, then brings them back to the spot again and again. Its neighbors across the street provided an elegant background for it.

The two neighbors suffered brick rustler attacks in 2007, losing parts of their back sides. The thin Italianate building was demolished in February 2008; its broader neighbor was already gone.


May 6, 2007


February 11, 2008

The whole intersection was a minor crescendo, part of a swelling movement toward Grand Avenue to the west, a lyrical moment among the already rich background of the city's vernacular buildings. But the moment is gone, the symphony torn apart and stomped upon.

Links:

• 2854-2856 St. Louis at the City Assessor's database
  
• The turreted flatiron building at the City Assessor's database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont