Hello from STL!

[StlTgeGuy]

Hello! My wife and I purchased a home in St. Louis in the Tower Grove East neighborhood a few years ago. We love the house and for the past few years have been doing a few things inside but my long term goal is to restore the outside, mainly the front of the house to what it once was. The inside unfortunately has gone through many updates over the years losing many historic pieces but we still have some left including amazing hardwood floors throughout.

Over the past few years I have become a little obsessed with researching the history of the home with the main intent of finding a picture of the home (inside or out) from the early days. I have found all the original owner history for almost almost every year and came across an original drawing of the home with original floor plan. I also discovered that the city has the home listed at built in 1904 when in fact I am almost certain it was built in 1898/99.

[Gothichome]

Well, hello and welcome Stl, you have a fine home and it looks to be in great shape. History, you have a paper history, that’s even better. I see the home was not build exactly to the drawing, or it may have had a rework above the eaves, but it does look like the same home as the plans. Does the floor plan match up with the drawing. Having a few years discrepancy between built date and city records is not unusual. What often happens, the home build starts in 1899 but for some reason takes a couple years for the city tax assessor records it for property tax purposes. Maybe this is what happed in your case. If you have spent any time reading the other posts you know by now we love pictures, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Look forward to hearing and seeing more of your home.
Ron.

[StlTgeGuy]

Thank you!

The floor plan does match up exactly with the drawing except now there have been walls added and walls removed in places. The dining room wall between it and the kitchen has been opened up and the dining room side of the butler pantry closed off but the pantry still can be entered from the kitchen. You can tell where they patched over the dining room side of the butlers pantry entry.

The second floor there is a solid wall now between then study and the front chamber making one a small bedroom and the other is our large master not with the entrance to the master going through what was once the closet - the rear right chamber connects to the now master bedroom and has been turned into a large master bathroom. Quite a few unique changes by adding some walls.

The main staircase and the rear servant stairs appear to be the same and there is a third floor which is not on the plans so I am not sure how that originally was. I have found several news clippings from when the house was first sold and it mentions a grand billiard room, I wonder if this may have been the third floor? I would have loved to see the house how it was originally built but the layout now is very functional for our family.

I believe the exterior of the house was built as the drawing shows from what I have heard from neighbors who have been around a long time. The previous owner before us made some changes they did not like which included changing how the dormers look. (Our neighbor is a stickler for preserving the history of these homes)

I am trying to find out what the exact terminology is for parts of the exterior house that are shown in the drawing but are no longer there now. What exactly are the "eaves" you refer to? Do you know what that fence/railing along the top is called or is the eaves? Would also like to find someone to change the dormers back to how they look in the drawing and also replace the finials that are now gone.

Any insight from anyone on here about these exterior changes or the interior floor plan would be wonderful!

[StlTgeGuy]

One other unique thing that you cannot see from either pic is on the stone above the front doorway there is a large "H" this really intrigued me and started me off on finding the original owner. The picture of the letter attached from the first owner is J. Otto Hunicke - Hunicke explains the "H." As the letter states he only lived there for one year before moving to NYC for his job. The home was purchased next by William Giraldin and then soon after sold again to Clarence Curby, two of the most well known men in STL at the time.

[Gothichome]

Sltguy, I was referring to the balustrade on the edge of the third floor. Having a large billiard or grand room on an upper floor was common in larger grand homes built on city lots. They were used to entertain guest for an evening dance, recital, or even billiards.
Your original connected ‘chambers’ were reasonably common as well. A bit of a left over from earlier days when married couples often had there own bed.

[StlTgeGuy]

Ah balustrade! Thank you

[phil]

I am trying to find out what the exact terminology is for parts of the exterior house that are shown in the drawing but are no longer there now. What exactly are the "eaves" you refer to?

here's the definition
"The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural style,"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eaves

also there are gables. I assume the term isn't used on houses that have a pyramid shaped roof or a flat roof but again a common term. basically the pointy end of a house with simple a peaked roof. being a silly smart ass I usually say no, they are bulls that dont' like cows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesthetic concerns. A gable wall or gable end more commonly refers to the entire wall, including the gable and the wall below it.

beautiful house. not so many giant brick houses with 10 foot ceilings over here.

[StlTgeGuy]

Thanks, Phil!

I think I have a much better idea of what is going on outside now.