urbanSTL

Alright, I give up. It’s a new basketball court on Olive next to the Language Immersion School (moved to downtown west in 2019 from the Grove)

All right, railfans; where am I?

If the Wabash Ferguson depot weren't a good hint I'd think the street sign for Adams in the foreground would be a dead giveaway. Okay, there's more than one Adams around town. But . . . it's the Ferguson depot. As seen from Adams and Redmond, more or less. I can't believe you're not in U. City or Midtown! :0 Impressive!

Correct. Shot from Redmond Ave. in Ferguson. 

(I'm trying to broaden my offerings, but I'm working so many hours these days I don't have much time to roam)  

In that case, let's get a leg up on the problem:



Anyone know Ms. Longstocking here?

^Joe's Cafe?

All right, a hint then. Some context:

That's the alley house on McNair where Senate dead-ends into it in Benton Park.

^Winner winner. The legs are next to that house. Assuming they're a permanent fixture, anyway. (They looked fairly substantial, though appearances can be deceiving. Fun and whimsical, in any case.)

New Hope Church (I think?) in Edmundson.

You are correct, sir! Well done. I know we urbanists don't necessarily spend much time out in the 'burbs, but North County has lots of great Mid-Century architecture. 

Wow, those facades are a choice.

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Miss Shell is sorta kinda close. The fun thing is that this entire street is made up of about two dozen of these "Giraffe Houses". Another street just a block over has a bunch too, but isn't quite so uniform.

I am going to guess Hanley Hills, the section west of North Hanley Road, which are mostly brick or "giraffe" stone, as opposed to those on the east side of North Hanley Road, which are mostly frame.

Even if the location is incorrect, these types of homes were built by Norman Schuermann, a prolific North County builder, beginning about 1925 with smaller subdivisions.  After WWII, he really kicked into high gear.  By the time he retired in the early 1960's, Schuermann had built over 14,000 homes, mostly in North County.  

Larger developments of Mr. Schuermann's include Velda Village, Velda Village Hills, Summit Park in Brentwood, Hanley Hills, Flordell Hills, Country Club Hills, Berdell Hills in Normandy, Nordell Hills in Berkeley, Bissell Hills in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Northland Hills, (phases/sections of which are on both sides of West Florissant Avenue between Lucas and Hunt and I-270), Walnut Grove in Ferguson and Sherwood Lake Estates in Overland.  Mr. Schuermann's personal residence was a large mansion in Sherwood Lake Estates, right on the lake.  That development is visible from I-170.

According to the Post-Dispatch archives, Mr. Schuermann had some run ins with the law, including the death of Schuermann's brother, violent union problems while building Velda Village,   and personal problems with his wives/ex-wives.  He retired to Santa Barbara CA in 1964 where he died in 1982.  His body was returned to St. Louis for the funeral and he is buried in Valhalla cemetery.  

I'm giving this one to steveinphilly; he clearly knows more than I do about these types of homes. This particular street is Paramount, right on the border of University City, Overland, and Vinita Park. 

Here's a Google Street View, which gives more of an idea of how both sides of the street are filled with these odd little houses. 

 

Thanks for the street name, Framer.  

Digging around the Post-Dispatch archives, this is one of  Schuermann's smaller, post WWII developments known as Waltondale, circa 1948/1949.

I am a baby boomer and a product of the post-war built environment.  There were quite a few mini William Levitt builders in St. Louis County, post war, who either built multiple developments and/or had a single, large scale, 1000+ home development.  Among them are:  Fischer & Fritchel (still in business, responsible for Frostwood Village in Berkeley, the now destroyed Carrollton, and Chatelaine and Towne South in South County), Contemporary Homes (still in business but known today as Kemp Homes, builder of Robinwood, Robinwood West, Oak Tree Farm, Crestwood Place), the various Vatterott brothers (a large part of Saint Ann, the now defunct village of St. George, and numerous other, smaller developments throughout the metro area), Mayer-Raisher-Mayer (Paddock Hills, Claymont, Claymont Estates and Mayfair), Alfred H. Mayer (Paddock Meadows, Paddock Estates, Paddock Woods, Paddock Forest, Wedgwood, Wedgwood Green, High Meadows and Pheasant Run)  Vorhof-Duenke (Hathaway Hills/Meadows/Manor North/Manor South, Trails, Seven Hills), C. T. Wilson (builder of Glasgow Village), and  Givens & Rowles (Flamingo Park),     Along with Schuermann, these builders are probably responsible for 40,000 homes in St. Louis County built after WWII.   Many of these builders used the services of noted St. Louis architect Ralph Fournier.  

As a kid, I went with my parents when they went searching for a new home and thus was familiar with all of these builders,  But it was only until recently, when I became interested in property around UMSL that I learned of Norman Schuermann.