Miami Street
South St. Louis, MO
“One of these things is not like the others/Tell me can you guess which one?”
In 1996, a house was demolished in this South Side neighborhood west of Kingshighway. A tad over 10 years later, someone bought the vacant lot and erected this striking, thoroughly-modern replacement.
In-fill housing in St. Louis City doesn’t happen as often as it should, and then when it does it is too often inappropriate for the area. Technically, this house is stylistically inappropriate for the neighborhood. Then again, this part of town has residential styles easily spanning a 60-year period, and this stretch of the street is the perfect example of that. So, in essence, this new home is following the tradition of this North Hampton neighborhood.
The newest member of this block respects the scale and set-back of its neighbors and is designed in the 21st century casual manner I call “Dwell Magazine Modern.” It is certainly different, but it’s not startling, and I think it’s a very handsome addition to the streetscape.
I love how they carried the materials and aesthetic to the alley; this garage is amazing! And it brings up a dozen questions, including: how do the neighbors feel about it? how hard was it to get a loan for such a different design in this neighborhood? who is the architect? how cool is the interior?
If anyone knows the story of this new house, please do share! And thank you to architect Geoff Crowley who discovered the house while driving around and let me know about it.
Hello,
Thank you for the nice and constructive comments regarding the Garcia House. It was a fun project to design and the Garcias were a one in a million client to work for. They had a vision and stuck to it.
Best,
Mike Killeen
Pingback: South St. Louis Modern In-Fill Home - Modern STL
I wrote a story on this house for the Post-Dispatch – will see if I can find a link. Great young couple with a young baby. He built it himself mostly and used all “green” materials. It is very open and bright inside with simple, modern furnishings.
Pingback: St. Louis and area news - business, events, politics, etc. - Missouri (MO) - Page 25 - City-Data Forum
Ken, I like it, even if it was stucco, I can only judge by the photo, maybe the mortar is of similar color, thus my misunderstanding. I stand by scale and street presence if one wants to be contextual over the exact material. Hell I like the faux Corbu house whats-her-name built on Lindell in the late 80’s.
I absolutely agree about technology and new construction, a neighbor had to replace a cast Iron stoop and I suggested aluminum structure and carbon fiber treads, advice ignored – would have looked great rather than the aped 19th c. fake they did instead.
richard stupidhead: it is not Stucco or DryVit. It’s brick.
The Garcia’s home is walking distance from my own, and I love the fact that it is in our neighborhood. I think it is a detriment to restrain new construction to the current (or old) vernacular. Why does everything in St. Louis have to look like it was built in the early 1900’s? Hello. Ballpark! Don’t get me wrong, My house is 80+ years old, and I love the craftsmanship and attention to detail that went into making it. New construction does not put forth that same effort, and should not disguise itself. The Garcia’s home uses modern materials and contemporary design sensibilities, and comes out a winner for creating a fine example of something that does not stick out like a sore thumb while it revels in it’s uniqueness.
Kudos, all involved.
Wow! Extremely neat. My only fret would be the flat roof, but such things are probably constructed more manageably nowadays than they were in the ’60s (when my Great-Aunt Anna owned a three-story brownstone on Broadway whose leak-prone flat roof my father often complained about fixing).
I think that is pretty cool. Nuthin’ wrong with a lil’ somethin’ different. And I love the garage too!!
The Garcia’s own a lot of the property on the SW corner line of buildings on Khwy just north of Chippewa.
Love it! There’s a big fat lot for sale on Lindell across from the Forest Park that I’d love to buy and put a modern house on – a glass house.
scale and siting are absolutely appropriate for that area. Stucco (or Dryvit?) is an odd choice but its color relates to the neighbor’s brick and aluminum siding is certainly part of the vernacular. who says it has to be painted?
Toby,
Isn’t this the house that was featured in a past issue of Dwell? It may have been in the Post as well.
Seems familiar, but I could be wrong…
I mostly love it, but I am slightly bothered by the metal overhang. Seems the wrong style and to me looks a bit out of place. LOVE the garage and I think it looks great on that street.
Killeen Studio Architects:
http://www.killeenstudio.com/Garcia-Miami.php
The architect was Mike Killeen of Killeen Studio.
I know of the firm and the house, and it is nice to see something like this built in south city. See the link below for info on the house:
http://www.killeenstudio.com/Garcia-Miami.php