Pennsylvania & Juniata, South St. Louis, MO
If it’s Wednesday, it must be green!

Last Wednesday (5.16) was the Skyhouse reception, full of beautiful people checking out a beautiful building. After pouring over the impressive model of the LEED-certified building, a designer friend and I – at different times – both asked one of the developers if there would be any restrictions on what kind of window treatments could go up. Wisely, the architects and developers are leaving that up to the future condo owners. But trust me, the minute a plaid curtain goes up in one of those sleek, reflective windows, a charter will be created to abolish it. Rightly so.

This Wednesday was the “sneak peek” of the EcoUrban home under construction in Benton Park. I couldn’t make the official tour, but did pedal over this evening to take an informal snoop around (above left – the front, above right – the back).

Nestled mid-block, the sight of the building is pleasantly startling, while the scale is absolutely appropriate to its neighbors. Then the sound of a nailgun sounded from within the house, and thus I met the guys working overtime inside. As a marketing coordinator for a design-builder, I know the tricks to conveying a message. But if you want the truth, talk to the carpenters on site.

(Above, southern light pouring in the 2nd story window) Green construction is a new adventure for experienced carpenters, and in the case of this EcoUrban home, it’s been a smooth job. They are loving the low-VOC paint because it doesn’t burn their nostrils and it dries ultra fast. They are digging the materials being installed: bamboo plank flooring, cement board siding and ultra sleek Italian kitchen cabinets. They know this house is built well and built to last, which just proves one of the basic concepts of green building: build it right, build it tight. Such an old fashioned concept now so modern.

After years of hearing carpenter complaints about the crappy quality of so many new homes, it’s a rare treat to have them wax enthusiastic over this one. Makes me wish I could afford one of these babies.

(Above, the front room at ground level) Last Wednesday was also a green day for Bill Clinton as he spoke at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit. The New York Post reported that:

Clinton talked of “greening up” all the black tar roofs he sees from his Harlem office. Besides lowering the temperature inside on a 90-degree day to 80 and saving energy, the landscaping needed to do this on 950,000 city buildings would create jobs for unskilled workers. “You can’t outsource that work,” Clinton said. “Someone has to be up there . . . and you can’t do that from India.”

A few years ago, a carpenter I know bought the book (shown above) at an estate sale. Collecting old books on building and architecture is a hobby of his, and explains how he has so much historical and practical knowledge while being so, relatively, young.

Upon cracking open the book he bought for 25 cents, he saw the picture above and realized it was a rendering very much like the house he bought the book at.

The floor plan (above) confirmed that, yes, this was the book the homeowner used to build the house that the book was bought from. So obviously, the writer’s guidance was sound, as the house appeared to be rather sound itself. But the carpenter couldn’t go back to ask if they really were able to build it for less than $3500, because the model book house was demolished.

The estate sale took place because that Fenton neighborhood was being cleared in order to build newer, larger homes. Considering how cheaply and poorly constructed many of these McMansions are, the exaggerated irony is that the new developer may have built each one for not much over $3500, yet sold them for “starting in the low $200s.”

After seriously browsing the book, it was surprising just how little has changed in residential construction since 1950. Aside from insulation, electrical and cladding material improvements, that 1950s ranch house model (shown above) could still be built just by following the instructions in this old book. To quote from Chapter 26: “A Ranch House”:

“Any housewife who looks at the floor plan of the Ranch House (plan shown above) will be struck by the fact that all the rooms are on one floor. This does away with climbing up and down stairs a hundred times a day, which, as everyone knows, is extremely exhausting.”

Stats show that the McMansion is quickly becoming the SUV of the housing market. One of the key principles of universal design (which dovetails with aging in-place principles) is one-level living, and the timing on that is good because aging Baby Boomers want single-level homes – enough with the stairs.

Many Boomers grew up in suburban ranch houses, and their senior living requirements often describe the ranches they grew up in. If someone could properly market the luxury of the ease of living that can be achieved within a retro ranch home, then the best examples of the ranch could inadvertently be preserved. The more one contemplates this logical re-use, the more apparent it becomes that crap loads of money could be made, while doing our planet and our communities a lot of good.

And as St. Louis ends another fabulous Preservation (actually 10 days, but we call it a) Week celebration, that’s my two cents on new preservation ideas for the 21st century.

Chippewa & Brannon
South St. Louis, MO
Ecology of Absence first spotted it when it was an unsightly mole. Now it has grown into a blazing, cancerous growth.

Yes, the worst-case scenario came true: They are covering “it” with white vinyl siding.
Did anyone ever confirm if there was a building permit issued?
Or better yet, does anyone know how to conjure a small tornado to blow that thing away?

Here’s a brief nostalgic look back at the building before the building owners went bat shit crazy and blind.

Oh man, do I love this?
Oh, I certainly do.

For only the 3rd time in my cyber history was a website ad purposely clicked, which brought me to the Sky House website.
Know in advance the developer’s site is ultra sleek and sexy in the way East Coast marketing teams communicate urban chic to Midwesterners, and provides no details, which is the standard format for separating the hip from the hoi polloi. Since I need concrete details, we know which side I land on.

As explained earlier, I’m all for the final proof of the resurgence of downtown St. Louis: new construction. We need brand new buildings that look of their moment in order to bookmark that moment in time.

22-stories is a tad over-scale for the immediate area, but not for the overall St. Louis skyline. Our biggest concern/complaint – messing up views of the Arch – has been addressed with that groovy “frame” atop the west side of the building. It will be built to LEED standards, so it’s a big Earth Day birthday gift to the city.

The more I read about this project, the more I love it. The downtown party guest list needs variety to keep it desirable, and the doorman isn’t as imposing as he may seem.

Just south of the intersection at Morganford & Loughborough Avenues is this home, above, with a brand new 2nd-story addition. It’s a tall departure from the immediate neighbors, all living in identical homes just under 1,000 s.f., built between 1959 – 1960.

I’m assuming the owners’ did the work themselves, as it took awhile to complete the job, which then left plenty of time for me to fret about how horrid it could be. We’ve all seen way too many white vinyl additions plopped atop a simple brick home, and that sort of clueless contrast is always jarring.

Being the first person on your block to add a 2nd story is an adventure in neighbor relations, and the odds of a non-professional screwing it up are high. I’m happy to report that (other than 3 inappropriate porch columns) they did a great job. They respected the shape and massing of the house and roof, and used a subtle hand when adding new features absent from the surrounding homes. It’s obvious that they paid attention to their street and were careful to get what they wanted without being ostentatious in a low key neighborhood.

I deeply admire the homeowners’ decision to avoid vinyl siding, with the biggest round of applause for their biggest victory:
They used brick on all four sides!

5 blocks east of the victorious remodel is the new Boulevard Heights development, and we have substantial progress on the first house, above. As noted before, I appreciate the neighborhood-appropriate placement of the building, and they got the scale and the massing just right. It’s not greedy about square footage, and actually feels rather responsible.

Even though it’s unnerving, I am used to seeing the brick & vinyl combo on newly built homes, so having brick only on the front of the house isn’t so odd. But I am surprised that they put windows on the west side of this house (above left), as many home builders save costs by letting no windows puncture the purity of their vinyl sides.

So, the abundance of windows is pleasing, but the placement of them is really strange and unsettling. Note how the 2nd story windows are crammed right into the roof eaves!
And one half of the back facade has no windows at all! But the odd fenestration issues fall away upon seeing the east side of the house…

The brick returns as a lone half-wall accent, and for Morley McBride Jones sake, why?!?!?!

To keep from getting insanely irate about senseless brick & vinyl juxtapositions like this, I had a builder explain to me why new home developers make these odd decisions. His paraphrased explanation is:

Everything on a new home site is broken down into itemized costs. They don’t “see” houses; they see pieces of houses comprising a budget. Brick-face walls are expensive and there is a tight and finite budget, so the developer must figure out how to spread as few bricks as possible over the largest area. Money saved on 3 vinyl walls “buys” one brick wall for another structure, and as long as brick shows up on the front of the house, St. Louis buyers are pleased.

But this still doesn’t explain what in the holy lack of aesthetics these people have done to the house above! It would make historical sense if it was a brick half-wall on 3 sides, and as an architect friend pointed out, if they shortened that brick wall to a more appropriate height (using the ground story windows as a guide), they’d have enough brick to cover 3 sides without breaking the budget.

Instead, they throw the remainder of this structure’s brick budget onto the east wall, ending at this weird height that bisects the porch roof and makes the 2nd story windows appear even more awkwardly placed than they already are. This bizarre finishing choice clearly proves that certified architects were removed from the design phase right after they stamped the drawings for the floor plan.

Obviously, part of my rant is about aesthetics, but there is also an inherent, historical logic to home building that can be witnessed throughout the city on a daily basis. Builders & architects have always had to make considerations based on budget, and having to work within limitations is what created brilliant solutions.

There is also an inherent balance to the universe. For each build-by-numbers box from the professionals, there is a passionate amateur who contributes something worthy to their neighborhood. I am grateful this balance is being maintained in this neighborhood.

And the season has only just begun!

5024 South Broadway
South St. Louis, MO
A tiny sign on the lawn above caught my eye. I clamped down on the brakes and a hung a U-ie right there.

For Sale?!?!?!?!
Noooooooooooo. Oh, please, nooooooooooooo.

The story of what’s next door to this home is here. They tore down an original home to make way for condos.
Patterson’s report from 1 year later, and it’s still an empty lot.

Almost 4 months later, and as seen above, there’s not even an inkling of a neighbor for 5024 S. Broadway.

The natural fear is that a similar developer with similar plans will take this property, and plow down the house. Not much effort is being made to promote the sale of this house. Realtor Michael Stretch leaves no real cyber trail. The only on-line reference to it also shows a completely different realtor, and try following through on any of those links. All soft dead ends.

My feeling that the house was never really on the market rises from an oddity on the city property records website. Punching in 5024 gives only one page of information (that 1509 N. Broadway LLC owns it). All of the other pages are utterly blank. For some reason, all of its data is now unavailable. Just like the house, I’m sure.

I’d lay you odds the house is coming down, whether there’s a valid reason or not. It’s just coming down.

…oh, please, let me be wrong on this one.

Haven Street & Idaho
South St. Louis, MO
Lately, it’s been real easy to court fatalistic pessimism about the misguided state of St. Louis City development. 2007 is still a fresh new year, yet it seems each week delivers another hit, another round of invested citizens’ incredulity over the City Money Fathers’ lack of vision and self-esteem. I worry that an approaching tipping point will drive away some of our strongest hopes for productive change. I fear the entrenched feeling of “Why should I care anymore if they don’t?”

Just as it seems a drowning is imminent, something catches the corner of my eye as I speed down Highway 55 South (picture above); the unmistakable sign of remodeling underway. But there?! It can’t be possible!

Even though it happened well before I was born, I’m still marveling over how the highway system chewed up St. Louis City. The series of chopped off streets lining Interstates 55, 44 & 70 within the city limits is both fascinating and painful. Haven Street (above) is just one of hundreds of examples of where the sidewalk ends, and how it creates these creepy black holes and uncomfortable terrains within a neighborhood.

I’ve pedaled through this particular area on a regular basis, and always chuckled nervously over this red asbestos shingled, 2-story vertical rectangle. Abandoned and decaying, it’s cut off from the rest of the neighborhood through no fault of its own. Its prominent, solitary placement on the peak of a hill makes it stick out like the last hair on a bald man’s head. The shadow it casts often hides the tiny satellite shack to its west.

It’s a curiosity that someone lives in the satellite shack, as it’s even more remote from the neighborhood, and the views are either of a rotting tower up on its tail or the highway. I’m not an advocate of tearing down, but in this case, getting rid of the red house seemed like a way to maybe breathe some light and air into this strange little corner.

Like wildflowers sprouting up through blacktop, hope grows in the unlikeliest places, and someone is investing money and time to bring this house back to life. Even with new windows, doors and a plywood addition on the back, I wouldn’t have believed it was a current undertaking if not for the multiple pickup trucks out front and the freshly issued building permits hanging proudly.

A scan through city records reveals that others shared my sentiments. This house, built in 1905, earned a demolition permit in January 2005. But that August, a man gave the city $5,000 and a set of construction plans. The city estimated it would cost $7,000 to tear it down. The new owner estimated $50,000 would make it a good investment property, and now he’s spending the money to prove it.

Oh, the next door neighbor was built in 1890, and at 779 s.f. it really does qualify as a shack, by today’s standards.

Starting with location, location, location, most everything about this investment renovation seems off kilter, yet it’s happening. While the City Money Fathers wrangle over Old Post Office Square, Ballpark Village and Blairmont – projects that invariably get tagged as crucial to the vitality of St. Louis City – we have private individuals improving one house at a time.

Private individuals undertake these projects for themselves, but it also revitalizes their block, and then, eventually, the neighborhood around them. One person venturing onto a seemingly dead block with a building permit usually creates a domino effect, and an area that was once iffy to drive through in broad daylight becomes a sweet spot to pedal through any time of day.

Over the past 10 years, I’ve watched this scenario play out with increasing regularity, and it’s done so without a lot of press hoopla, tax breaks or political maneuvering. It is grass roots progress despite City Hall, undertaken by people who usually have to endure a standard amount of bureaucratic mickey mouse to make it happen. Yet they go through it all because they believe it’s worth it.

You can’t change the world – or the City Hall – but you can change your own small piece of the city one plot of land at a time. The unlikely renewal at Haven & Idaho Streets just about breaks my heart with gratitude, and reminds me to stay focused on what’s good about our city: that you can still work under the radar to create a positive chain reaction that benefits the most progressive people in it – St. Louis City homeowners, and those aiming to be.