The Loss of a Historic Building May be a Win for the Neighborhood 10:17 PM

When, exactly, is the above statement true?

When, and only when, the replacement of the historic building is a thoughtful, well-crafted one that advances the neighborhood. Vacant lots and out-of-scale shoehorns need not apply.

6323 Arthur in Lindenwood Park (also known as the Linden Heights subdivision) was a small, frame front gable home in disrepair. In a neighborhood noted for its stability and high levels of owner-occupancy, the vacant, deteriorating home definitely stood out.

6323 Arthur, before. Courtesy of Geo St. Louis.

Today, the site is home to new construction (by Blue Brick Construction). I feel the replacement meets our simple litmus test outlined above. The small frame home could have been restored with careful TLC into something quaint and yet affordable. But the replacement solved its vacancy and solidified this neighborhood all at once. Would this infill look good in Benton Park West, replacing a solid red brick four-family? Of course not. In Lindenwood Park, it manages a persona that is both classy/traditional and, subtly so, sleek/contemporary.

 6323 Arthur, after. Photo courtesy of Blue Brick.

Is this the best case of a net positive historic preservation tradeoff? Maybe not. But I enjoy this infill and am happy the little home on Arthur did not die in vain.

"Watson in the City" 6:45 PM

I grew up in what is probably the geographic center of "south St. Louis".

I can't truly speak for others, but my family mostly did its shopping to the south and southwest of our home. That included Southtown, Hampton Village, South County, and Crestwood. Even after graduating high school, I could literally count on two hands the number of times I'd gone east of Grand or north of I-64/40, excepting Forest Park. Heck, even Tower Grove South off of Morgan Ford Road itself was foreign to me.

In retrospect, my world was infinetismal then--I didn't drive until I was nearly 19 and rarely took the bus either. I hung out around Bevo mainly; anything past St. Louis Hills was a road trip as far as I was concerned in the passenger seat. My mother did make semi-frequent trips out to Crestwood (was this the edge of the world?), but instead of complaining about the distance I liked to watch the transition of urban development down Chippewa.

First Shop N Save and Famous Barr (sigh), then some brown-brick apartment buildings with porches that all lined up; there's the 7-11. Soon came the gingerbread houses, then a mess of cars fighting for a space in Hampton Village or adjacent Target. More gingerbreads and apartments. A couple medical towers. Donut stand. TED DREWES. Blockbuster. Blocky apartment buildings. River Des Peres--ewww. Overpass. That strange little business that manufactures headstones for cemeteries. More shopping centers. Then that St. Louis gray marker near the sign with the population count I was always fascinated by. I know for a fact that it read "ST. LOUIS, Pop. 396,685 (1990)" well past the 2000 census. I knew the population had fallen and didn't want to see the sign ever replaced. It was, eventually.

Right at that gray pylon, after entering St. Louis County--BAM--Chippewa Street magically became Watson Road. Why? Wasn't there one of those back in the city? Even as a child, the divide between city-and-county seemed so pronounced (the road pavement in each even clashed).

I knew of "Watson in the City" because my aunt used to live off of City Watson on Pernod in the Lindenwood neighborhood. I always enjoyed the concept of the competing Watsons, without ever understanding why. I was proud that I lived in the city and "we" had a Watson, too.

I felt compelled to spill this ramble after reading the Lindenwood Neighbor newsletter (September 2009). They used the term "Watson in the City" describing their second annual "What's on Watson" a.k.a. WOWFest!, which is coming up this weekend.

Since I have something of an obsession with neighborhood festivals, I thought I'd just post the information for the WOWFest this Saturday, but took a little detour getting there. Memory Lane may be officially located in Wildwood; but that doesn't stop me from going there.

To be WOWed:

Saturday, October 17, 2009 - 11:00 am-4:00 pm
Watson Business District's
Second Annual WOWFest

2009 will celebrate the great businesses on "Watson in the City." Look
for the crowd under the big tent at Southwest Baptist Church (across the street
from the Machacek Library).
Enjoy Live Music, Good Food & Cold Drinks.
Visit Informational and Crafter's Booths with great items for sale. 50-50 Raffle
and other Raffle items. Children's Activities and Crafts provided by
Neighborhood Churches and the Library.

Several of Watson’s great restaurants will sell delicious dishes at
reasonable prices including:

Biggie's
Chris' Pancake
LoRusso's Cucina
Pietro's
Stellina Pasta Cafe
Trattoria Marcella
possibly others ...

For more information call Nancy Doerhoff @ the
Library:
781-2948

By the way, it's worth going for Stellina Pasta alone--one of my favorite restaurants in the city!

EDIT: The festival also takes place adjacent to everyone's favorite bomb-shelter-library-combo. Ah, Machacek.

"Chippewa Square" shopping center: It doesn't look atrocious! 4:43 PM

From Pictures

Source: Loop Net

It's amazing what a rear-facing parking lot can do for these one-story commercial buildings. Ideally, of course, this would be a two-story mixed use building, but if we're going to continue to build these commercial-only buildings, let's screen the parking like this example.

(By the way, yes I already posted on this; I found the pic online and thought it worth reiterating. And, you're right, there is a side lot, which isn't ideal. Still, admit that you're surprised this building wasn't placed thirty feet back with front parking.)

In Memoriam: 6323 Arthur in Lindenwood Park 5:36 PM

6323 Arthur was a great distance from high-style. Its "fish scale" shingle cladding didn't flatter it. Regardless, located in family-friendly and solid middle class Southwest City, it was likely too small to attract much interest.

Still, I note its demolition with a fleck of sadness. These front gabled shotguns--especially of the wood/frame variety--are quite rare in the city of St. Louis.

It's strange to think that, in such a stable neighborhood, the property just could not sell (despite its size). It's an LRA lot now.

Here's a view from May 2008.







And here is a view of the lot, post-demolition, in October 2008.

The city doesn't have records on a date of construction. Neighboring homes actually date from the turn of the century to about 1930, typically. 6323's simple A-frame design probably dates to around 1910, if I were to guess.

This little house will soon be forgotten, when the straw melds into the soil. It will likely be a side lot for an adjacent property some day, if not very soon.

I think the block was better for having it.

Update: I found this through a Google search. This site will host a new home developed by Blue Brick Properties (and it's going to be green, too). Though the rendering is of the two-dimensional, black and white variety, and an assessment as to its design quality is difficult to make, this news is better news than a side yard for sure. Let's hope the economy hasn't halted construction. After all, the Assessor still notes that it's LRA-owned.

Filling in a (Donut) Hole on Old Route 66 4:20 PM

I knew something didn't look right.

I truly do remember this sign from when I was a child. Why did they ever take it down? At any rate, it's back up, thanks to an intriguing Restore Route 66 grant from the state of Missouri. Kudos to remembering our autocentric history alongside our more urban history.



You can thank the Lindenwood Neighbor's December 2008 issue for this sweet bit of news. It's published quarterly by the Lindenwood Neighborhood Association. Check it out.

Visit Stellina Pasta. 12:33 AM

For the first of my small business spotlights, I wanted to tell you about Stellina Pasta. First, the facts.

Business: Stellina Pasta
Category: Restaurant
Sub-category: Pasta/Italian
Neighborhood: Lindenwood
Location: 3342 Watson Road., St. Louis, MO 63139
Contact: 314-256-1600
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11am - 9pm
Amenable to: casual dates, a small office lunch outing, organic food freaks, meatlovers and vegetarians alike, basically anything other than a large group of people
Prices: $10-15 per head, post-tip

Stellina Pasta ("little star") is one of the coziest dining spots in St. Louis. I have to admit, its location is not all that exciting to me. Sure the growing presence of "yuppy" types in the Lindenwood/St. Louis Hills area seem to drift in and out, snagging seats with unsuspecting neighbors and generating casual chat like the best of urbanites--but something about its location on Watson (which I usually associate with St. Louis County's much longer stretch of the road of the same name) almost kept me from trying this place out. When I think of new and exciting places to go in the city, Lindenwood (Park) doesn't typically win out.

I'm glad I was extremely hungry one day while traveling down the pedestrian unfriendly Watson highway that is now, in my opinion, home to two destination restaurants: the ever popular Biggie's and Stellina itself.

Stellina, make no mistake, is tiny.



But as you can see, the storefront is adorable. The large window with the counter facing it is great for a person flying solo and wanting to people/car watch. In nice weather, the patio outside adds a lot more seating.

The interior gives off a bit of that pristine and squeaky clean coffeehouse vibe--again, not my favorite, but the intimate scale of the place, which makes it appear all the more busy, is rare in St. Louis and is appreciated in this context.



With the tin ceiling, my imagination has invented the scenario of this building as a former neighborhood grocery store. Maybe I'll do a bit of research.

What about the food and pricing though?

The food, all organic and handmade, is excellent. I have had several iterations of the pasta, all successful to me. The Hog Wild is my favorite sandwich:

Shaved ham, bacon, granny smith apple, white cheddar, sweet hot mustard on peasant bread, served grilled.

But rotating specials and a host of no-meat items make this place amenable to all foodseekers.

Check out the menu here. Prices are definitely reasonable, with each sandwich falling between the 7 and 9 dollar marks. Pasta, as can be expected, is a bit pricier. Portion sizes are not huge, but are completely appropriate and filling. My only complaint, as a Coke/Pepsi addict, is the lack of a fountain--meaning you must pay for each soda can and glass of ice. Oh well. It's probably for the better.

Next time you think pasta, at least for once, don't think the Hill! Come to Lindenwood and try out Stellina. You will not be disappointed.

Tudor Revival Historic District? 10:56 AM

I've had my nose in A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia McAlester and Lee McAlester for the past couple days. It's come as a great relief to understand the architectural style of the typical New Orleans shotgun home with East Lake detailing: they're Folk Victorians!

Anyhow, I was reading the section on Tudor Revival and saw St. Louis's offerings prominently featured. I could tell the house was a Northampton (possibly Southampton or Lindenwood Park) beauty--a dominating front gable that dramatically plunged down to the entryway. It also had the requisite "gingerbread" frosting along the foundation and framing the windows, doors, and corners. Most in St. Louis are familiar with this type of house, which occurs quite often in neighborhoods that were built up between 1915 and 1935.

No neighborhood seems to embrace the style quite as ubiquitously as Northampton, though. Luckily, despite my inability to secure my own pictures, Doug Duckworth has me covered! He recently took a photo tour of Northampton in the area around the amazing La Tropicana and the wonderful World Cafe.


I failed to mention how these homes often exaggerate their chimneys, but this picture has served me well in conveying this.


Aha! Another Tudor Revival feature: the false half-timbering. Those decorative timbers are not structural, but were meant to evoke their older English counterparts.


The Gothic arch doorway is a nice detail, though not typical to Tudor Revival.


Notice the tiny window in the lesser gable and, of course, the swooping and front-and-center gable that screams Tudor. As if to spite me, this one has a Gothic-arched door as well, though it's not quite as pronounced.

I won't pillage all of Doug's collection; you must visit the rest here.

But just thinking to how there are entire blocks of these "Hansel and Gretel" houses made me believe it's about time to add this charming neighborhood to the National Register. My suggestion for a name: Southwest St. Louis Tudor Revival Historic District. Or Northampton Tudor Historic District. I suppose the name Northampton only adds to the tribute to our neighbors across the pond.

This style was so popular in the early and middle 20th century that we were lucky enough to see whole neighborhoods of them. While perhaps neighborhoods like Northampton lack the gritty urbanism and architectural diversity of the neighborhoods to the east, it is hard to argue that these rows of frosted gables, tiny casement windows, rustic shutters, half-timbering--and yes, the stained glass!--are somehow unattractive.

Take a stroll down Lindenwood, or Pernod, or Fairview, or any number of Northampton streets and tell me you're not impressed by the playful intimacy of these little cottages.