Historically, St. Louis building codes established a "fire line" within which one could only construct buildings with masonry outer walls. In my neck of the woods (south of Tower Grove Park), the line was just west of Grand in the 1880s and was established at Morganford in the 1890s.
I'd be interested in hearing about people's favorite bungalow neighborhoods in the City. Bellerive is wonderful, but I think my favorite is Magnolia Place because of its intimate scale. There are also a lot in Penrose and other north/northwest neighborhoods, but I am not as familiar with them.
Lynn wrote:Historically, St. Louis building codes established a "fire line" within which one could only construct buildings with masonry outer walls. In my neck of the woods (south of Tower Grove Park), the line was just west of Grand in the 1880s and was established at Morganford in the 1890s.
Yes, but the city was mostly brick and stone construction even before that; just look at Soulard where most of the homes pre-date 1880.
The region was blessed with large clay deposits perfect for making brick, and many of the city's immigrants in the mid-19th century came to work in those mines. I believe one of the biggest clay mines was under Dogtown. Actually, I don't know that that was the biggest, but I know there are a lot of settlement issues and the occasional sinkhole in that area because of the abandoned clay mines underneath. Much of the land around St. Louis back then was open plain as well (many of the forests you see around here have grown up since then), whereas cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago had an unlimited supply of timber to the north.
If the St. Louis region had had greater timber resources, you'd probably see a lot more frame construction here, since I'd imagine it was much easier to cut down and saw up a tree than it was to descend into a mucky, constantly collapsing hole in the ground to dig out clay.
^ This is true and I personally rather have St. Louis's redbrick housing over other cities siding/wood frame anyday. IMO brick is what makes St. Louis the most charming city in the Midwest and one of the most architecturally significant in America.....too bad are leadership either doesn't know our history or simply doesn't give a damn about it. Thats why it really bothers the hell out of me when the city leaders let suburban style siding developments pop up over the city.
The Patch in extreme south city is very varied: it has everything from the 1870s to the 1940s in abundance. It also has a large percentage of frame houses.
Clifton Heights, as someone already mentioned, has a lot of frame houses from the 1910s and on. It is one of the most picturesque neighborhoods in the city (at least the area that surrounds Clifton Park).
Northampton and Southampton neighborhoods are mostly brick "gingerbread" cottages built between 1915 and 1945. They're about as cute a house as you'll ever see. There are northside neighborhoods with these type of homes as well (Northpoint, Baden, etc.).
St. Louis Hills is again mostly brick, but it has everything from Georgian revival 1920s era homes to 1950s ranch houses. The streetscapes, with their large tree canopies and mulit-colored sidewalk tiles, are quite beautiful (esp. as you approach Francis Park).
The Bevo neighborhood is an island of frame paradise for the siding lover. Most of it was built after 1910. However, these are mostly very small "bungaloids" rather than all out bungalows.
If you're looking for the real thing, the true bungalow, then look at the Southwest Garden neighborhood, but the portion EAST of Kingshighway. Beautiful bungalows there.
Finally, the Hill, the famous Italian neighborhood, has all house sizes and types, ranging from 1880s construction to modern.
There's a lot more to St. Louis than the most admired Soulard, Benton Park, Central West End, and Tower Grove neighborhoods.
St. Louis was the largest brick-making city in the world by 1890, and we also had the largest single brick manufacturer in the world in the form of Hydraulic Press Brick Co.; we also had one of the largest terra-cotta industries. They were here for the clay resources. That is why we have the brick. For Classic Craftsmen style housing I would look in parts of TG South (for the great examples check out Utah Place), and parts of Carondelet like all of Bellerive Avenue.
TGE-ATW wrote:St. Louis was the largest brick-making city in the world by 1890, and we also had the largest single brick manufacturer in the world in the form of Hydraulic Press Brick Co.; we also had one of the largest terra-cotta industries. They were here for the clay resources. That is why we have the brick.
How do we rank today? Do we still have any large brick/terra cotta manufacturers?
You can see why the brick examples are more respected in St. Louis; in many ways, they're easier to maintain (read: easier to fail to maintain and still have them look good).
I can post more neighborhoods. What sort of price range are you looking for? Bevo was always a lower middle class/working class neighborhood, and the housing stock reflects that.
If you want more upscale, we should look elsewhere.
There's a nice group of small houses along I-55 at Bates. Many/most of them are brick, flat-roof, with tile architectural elements and decoration. I've noticed them more from interstate extending east side.
TGE-ATW wrote:Almost none of those have Bungalow or Craftsman elements.
One could argue that the ornate masonry work and the parapits on the front of those shotgun style homes is the late 19th/early 20th century STL workingman's take on Craftsmen Style; especially considering the overabundance of brick/ceramics. I happen to enjoy it very much.
My home was stick built in 1890 on a BRICK FOUNDATION (supported with 4x4's). I consider it a Craftsmen Style Shotgun House. I'm planning to add a couple long shed dormers to the attic to make a master suite and cedar shake the roof.
How about those Gambrel roof homes? I HATE that style home, absolutely hate it. And I'm not talking about true Dutch Colonial Revival. I'm talking specifcally about the faux Dutch Colonial Revival Ranch hybrd.
Well, clearly you can have craftsman elements in different kinds of homes. I have seen a lot of flat roof, basically brick shotgun houses that have stone piers holding up a false roof that gives the impression of an incised porch. In St.L (and I am sure other places as well) there was a period in the first decade or so of the 20th century when people were still building the 1890's simple brick shaped-parapet house, but experimenting with the craftsman aesthetic. It is truly a transitional house-type and one that clearly demonstrates both interest in new ideas and resistance to change simultaneously.
Frame construction persists in St. Louis from its founding, when all construction was wood, through the present age. While brick and stone were prevalent materials for exterior walls as early as the 1830s, many people built in wood for speed and cost. While the city quickly depleted its woods, wood was abundant in outlying areas of Missouri and Illinois. Timber came in via riverboat from the earliest days until the railroads came in the 1850s. Then, timber was even easier and cheaper to obtain. A lot came from southern Illinois and souithern Missouri. Remember that the stone and brick homes have wooden joists, floors, millwork and windows.
Timber has always been plentiful and inexpensive in St. Louis -- a fact made plain nowadays. The building codes all but suppressed frame construction until the 1950s, when they were rewritten again to respond to the housing boom after the GI Bill was passed. Since then, frame has been permitted all over the city. Today we see frame construction ranging from the Union Club to new houses in the Ville, and almost no one builds real masonry structures.
While not the City, isn't there a sort of Mid (Richmond Heights?) and North St. Louis County (Vinita Terrace, Pagedale, etc) brick bungalow vernacular (1920s-1940s?)? I would suspect that this is the closest the St. Louis region has to a "bungalow belt."
Otherwise, brick bungalows are scattered around the city (theres some good ones along I-44 between Kingshighway and Grand). I would guess there are frame bungalows out in say...Webster? I don't know. Thats where I've seen a lot of decent pre-war frame construction in the metro (not that the City doesn't have decent frame construction, but the very high quality construction here in the City is almost always brick...this is Brick City) comparable to Brookside in Kansas City.
