badmansard

Mismatched Mishmash

2012-01-29T08:02:00.005-06:00

Look closely at this building in downtown Washington. The front mansard looks ok. The back, not so much. And there's a lot more going on- the parking lot wall, the facade of the store, the AC units, the windows on the 3rd floor of the south elevation. And yes, that is a deck off the back wall.

The awning announces a small grocery store, Droege's. You have no idea how hard it was to get a decent picture. I had to drive around the block 3 times to get a picture from all angles. It didn't help that my husband's camera was having focus issues.

Tonight young Audrey has been invited to a rollerskating party at the Skatium down in the Carondelet neighborhood. There are TONS of mansards down there, good and bad. Wish me luck in getting a picture of some of them.

Dancing with the Little Flower

2012-01-21T23:32:00.003-06:00

My second oldest daughter takes dancing at Little Flower, a Catholic school over in Richmond Heights. Found this bad mansard right behind the parish facing west. I thought there'd be way more bad mansards in that neighborhood (bound by Clayton Road, Big Bend, Laclede Station and Highway 40) but in the 4 years Audrey has been dancing this is the first one I've found.

Miss Marilyn is the dance teacher at Little Flower and imagine my surprise when I realized she was my teacher back at Mark Twain Elementary back in the late 70's/ early 80's. We thought she was so grown up but she was probably only 25. She's around 60 now and looks fantastic, wearing the same leotard, skirt and high heel tap shoes wore back in the day.

I learned a great life lesson from Miss Marilyn. The class was broken into two groups for the recital and my friend Erika and I figured out we were in the less coordinated of the dances, Funky Town (or maybe it was Eye of the Tiger?). Thinking the decision was unfair, Erika and I marched up to Miss Marilyn and demanded an explanation. Without missing a beat, Miss Marilyn explained she knew we were better dancers than the other girls our dance group but could we please stay in those dances? She needed us to be leaders and show the other girls how the dances were properly performed. We replied of course! We danced in Funky Town and knew how grateful Miss Marilyn was that we were leading the others.

Miss Marilyn still rolls out Funky Town and Eye of the Tiger for recitals. Erika and I continued to question authority. In 4th grade we petitioned the principal to discipline teacher Miss Chung because we thought she showed favoritism. 5th and 6th grade found us in different classrooms until I moved to Webster for junior high school.

Erika lives in Madison, WI and continues to be somewhat of an activist. I find myself a little more conservative than her and now our sparring is with each other. That is a good thing and makes life interesting. We can agree that our friendship has been long, vodka is good and Miss Chung was wrong in 1980.

The Grove

2012-01-10T21:58:00.003-06:00

I think this mansard is so cute. One of you architecture people- help me please. This building isn't perfectly rectangular. It's more like an uneven parallelogram or a trapezium. It's really not a Flatiron building either. What would it be called in your architectural parlance?

Anyway, it attractively sits at the corner of Manchester and Tower Grove catty corner from Sweetie Pie's restaurant.

I'd like to go on record at this point. The Grove is the worst name ever to describe this upcoming (up came?) neighborhood. I lived in Webster Groves for many years and we've always called it "the Grove." Confusing to now have two Groves.

de la Ville ou rurale?

2012-01-08T21:44:00.000-06:00

City or country? This bad mansard looks like it should be out in Jefferson County or Franklin County complete with a septic tank, munitions dump and a pack of stray dogs. I wanted to get just a little closer to check the place out (is that a lawn jockey?). I thought about driving on the parking lot to get a better picture but imagined the crunchy noise my minivan would make. Fearing an armed woman with a cigarette dangling from her mouth may jump out from behind the evergreens, I decided against pulling up to the house.

But this house isn't in the country. It's a stone's throw from Highway 44 near Arsenal on McCune street in St. Louis City. Just a slice of worn wooden mansard heaven in our city's boundaries.

Back in 2009 I mentioned my comparison of wood siding to the girls I knew in college who smoked and tanned. Neither ages very well. I stand by that comparison.

Quelle Horreur! Gravois.

2012-01-07T16:21:00.003-06:00

An open letter to Gravois Avenue:

Dear Gravois. What the hell is the matter with you? Or, really, WTF? You are a mess. No matter the weather, time of day or day of week, you are all messed up. Everything. The cars traveling on you, the lights that regulate you, the folks trying to cross you. I know Gravois means "road to the dump" in French, but it's getting ridiculous.

I must stop at every. single. light. And even though there is a light and crosswalk about every 50 feet, there are oblivious jay walkers sauntering across the street. And there are car crashes and broke down cars and cars going 50 MPH next to cars chugging along at 15 MPH.

I beg for Todd Waelterman, director of St. Louis Streets, Traffic Lights, Crosswalks and other stuff, to fix Gravois.

Gravois, you provide the most direct way for me to get where I need to go. But the lights have gotten so ridiculous that I am better off taking 55 to Germania or 44 to Kingshighway or Sidney to Grand. For now, I quit Gravois. When it gets better someone let me know.

Danger!

2011-12-25T22:19:00.006-06:00

I was planning a really, really ugly bad mansard post today. It didn't happen. This antique pier mirror messed everything up. My husband bought it for me from Sambeau's in the Central West End for our one year anniversary in 1999. We brought it from our first house in Lafayette Square to this house and bolted it to the wall in 2002. I never thought another thing about it.

Until this morning when it came crashing down on top of our 3 1/2 year old Mimi. And there was blood, glass, shattered wood and teeth everywhere. She had a few scrapes and three baby teeth got knocked out by the force of her face hitting the floor (fortunately an area rug softened the blow). Despite the injury and damage, I felt incredibly lucky. That thing could have killed her. It's heavy wood and the glass is about 1/4 inch thick.

Our good friend is a dentist and will check her out tomorrow. Fingers and eyes crossed everything is ok.

So, to all you moms raising kids in old houses, I have advice for you. The dangers of keeping little ones safe in a house 100+ years old are different than in a newer house. For sure newer houses have problems too. But older houses have some inherent risks to kids.

Our staircases are much, much steeper. There are 21 stairs from my first floor to the second floor. They are not carpeted. The stairs from my 2nd to 3rd floor are incredibly narrow and steep. You haven't had the wits scared out of you until you hear a toddler fall down 16 stairs.

The glass in some of our windows and mirrors is old- usually super thick and leaded glass. It usually won't break, but when it does get out of the way because it created giant jagged pieces of mirror daggers.

Lead paint and asbestos. Even if your house has been sanded down to wood, repainted this decade and abated, it won't stop some moron from throwing contaminated drywall and insulation out the second story window of your neighbors house creating a layer of poison dust all over your yard.

The doors are giant and solid wood. Little fingers get pinched quite easily and accompanied by a horrifying crunch.

Hardwood is lovely but slippery.

The ceilings are so very, very tall. My 6'5" husband has to stand on top of a ladder to access the lightbulbs. One time he fell and almost landed on then-baby Gus snoozing in his pumpkin seat.

Because the ceilings are high and the rooms can be large- furniture is super-sized. Bookcases, mirrors, dressers, etc. Looks great but more horrible if it falls on your kid.

I will argue that an older home is 100% better for raising kids than a newer home. That said, let's all do a safety check and make sure the accidents happen less frequently.

Bad Mansard Yacht Club

2011-12-20T23:47:00.003-06:00

Boats always look so out of place in the city. It's pretty clear you aren't going boating anywhere on your property if you live in the city of St. Louis.

You know what also looks ridiculous on this place? The porch!! I can't tell whether the roof or the porch was the add-on to this house. Given the neighbor house with the mansard and the brick color of the porch, I am going with porch addition.

House is somewhere near Ivanhoe and McCune. I found it while I was looking for the holy grail of south city bad mansards. That will be featured on Christmas.

Where would you move?

2011-12-16T16:29:00.007-06:00

One time at a dinner party we played a game*. Each guest had to pick 5 cities to be transferred to. It made for interesting conversation. We learned where other people had lived and what was important to them in selecting a new city. I picked Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City and maybe New York or Austin. My reasoning was having many friends and families in those cities, decent culture, and school options .

There is a spin on the big city transfer game. It's the small town Missouri game. Pick a small town to live in if you couldn't liv

e in St. Louis. Hands down my pick is cute Washington, Missouri. About 50 miles down interstate 44 to the west of St. Louis on the Missouri River, Washington was founded by Germans features great houses, big churches, a cute downtown and neat restaurants and shops. Washington is a combination of two places I already have lived- the small town feel of Webster Groves mixed with the big bricks, river and festival-centric nature of the City of St. Louis.

And this cutie-patootie mansard. Where would you live if you had to pick a big city or a small Missouri town?

**Beware my dinner parties. There will be a good chance you will play a hypothetical game or a board game or a drinking game.

Well proportioned and handsome

2011-12-14T18:10:00.002-06:00

Isn't this Flora Place house cute? I found it in my mansard photo folder and I think I was 'saving it' for the holidays. I guess it is the right season to post it. I like how there is a pumpkin on the porch and a Christmas wreath on the door, just like my house.

Flora place

2011-12-12T17:56:00.003-06:00

I am working on some juicy bad mansard posts. Until I finish with those, I am presenting to you one of my favorite houses on Flora Place. It is somewhat plain compared to the larger mansions that surround it. 3816 Flora is where my grandmother grew up back in the 1930's and 1940's. A gorgeous and smart lady who matriculated from Roosevelt High School and later from Washington University.

She was Presbyterian and attended Tyler Place Church around the corner from this house. I, on the other hand, am Catholic and drive my kids over to school in her old neighborhood to attend St. Margaret of Scotland. I came across a family genealogy chart that showed her mother's family (the Starr's and Chester's) to be descendants of, wait for it, Queen Margaret of Scotland. Small world.

Cooking with bad mansard

2011-12-05T00:04:00.002-06:00

Two of my favorite St. Louis products, both available at Vincent's. I don't know the folks at Vivienne's, but the Lochhead vanilla people are friends. The women on the photo are my friend M's mother/sister in-laws. Love the Lochhead vanilla. It's manufactured out in Fenton but the consumer bottles are packaged here in Soulard.

d'Avent

2011-11-29T19:17:00.005-06:00

Here is my deconstructed Advent wreath which is neither in a circular wreath form nor does it technically have the correct variety of evergreens. Nonetheless, it's how I do Advent. I have Southern magnolia coming out of my ears.

I have these ridiculously happy and abundant Bracken Beauties in our front yard*. Every year I whack off branches to decorate the mantles and make wreaths for the doors. Do you have any idea how expensive magnolia wreaths and swags are at even wholesale suppliers like Baisch and Skinner? $50 a pop. Crazy.

Candles are from Missouri Candle Company. They smell like baby powder.

*not sure anyone in the city has a proper front yard. We have a nice tree lawn along the street and a small courtyard where the Southern Magnolia thrive. They usually are only happy to a zone 6 (St. Louis is a 5), but a Bracken Beauty does very well here if it is shielded from the NW wind.

Bad mansard de futbal

2011-11-26T23:45:00.003-06:00

A little slice of bad mansard on a building I visit a lot- Soccerdome. Not much mansard to see here folks. Just a mansard vestibule.

Of note, it never seems like we use that entrance unless there's a tournament. And when there is a tournament, watch out because it always means you have to pay a couple of bucks in cash and I never seem to have cash on hand.

Jefferson Quatre

2011-11-14T06:43:00.001-06:00

The stretch of Jefferson south of 44 to Gravois has some very bad mansards. This one had eluded me for a long time. Not sure why; it's either at a strange spot on Jefferson or maybe it's the trees. Strange that such a garish thing could be so hard to see.

This past weekend was a social whirlwind. I know, I know. I act like every weekend, or every day, is a whirlwind. I had 17 3rd graders over for the Mother of All Brownie Meetings. I had a friend in from out of town for a visit to City Museum. Went to a wedding and reception. Had some neighbors over for brunch where I made the Mother of All Breakfast Meats, the Sausage Ring of Saturated Fat. Also dropped the ball a few times. Forgot that daughter Audrey was coming home from dance at 3. No one home. Oops. Also the Brownie meeting was intense. I was dead set on wrapping up six try its we've been working on since last spring. Those vests needed some flair. (Office Space reference; click here).

I also had a birthday and our anniversary this past weekend. All I wanted for a gift was one hour to go for a long run. Saturday morning I took a new route and ran down Jefferson which finally gave me the chance to get a crappy iphone picture of this tar paper, pepto pink and wannabe-but-not-even-close-French blue. Perhaps it is the Mother of the Jeffersonian Bad Mansards. (click the Jefferson tag for the others).

Vingt days? J'apologize.

2011-11-09T23:54:00.004-06:00

So sorry it's been 20 days since last I posted. And I don't even have any fresh material . Only this really bad mansard local realtor Ted Wight found on the St. Louis South Side. Click here for his post. Are you reading Ted's blog? If not, you should. He has a keen eye for stylish homes (especially mid century moderns) and nice gardens. I love any blog written by a man who loves European Hornbeam hedges.

Also check out Ted's bad realtor photography. It's like the Cake Wrecks of real estate listings.

I doubt anyone wants to know where I've been for the last 20 days. But I'll gloss over some highlights: birthdays, halloweens, trip to Mizzou, kid with whooping cough (yes, in this day and age even with immunizations), some parties, 7 volleyball games, 2 basketball games and a soccer game, a Brownie meeting tomorrow and the neighbors over for brunch on Sunday.

PBR signage

2011-10-20T23:10:00.004-05:00

Took this lousy quality picture in Union, MO. Pretty cool PBR sign I think. I'm guessing it's relatively old but I would defer to a neon sign expert. PBR and neon signs- both cool again. I'm just waiting for Busch beer to make a splash with hipsters. When it happens I will be ready.

Target v. Walmart

2011-10-10T22:53:00.004-05:00

I usually put my mommy observations on my 63104mom tumblr. But this time I thought badmansard readers would enjoy a statement I made at a Brownie event.

We went to the SLU Occupational Therapy department this past Saturday to attend a disability workshop. The program was great and the girls asked some very insightful questions. And let's not ignore the obvious. The thought rolling around in wheelchairs and walkers and using blindness goggles was a lot of fun.

And I also learned some random information such as K's grandpa has a "plastic eye" and one of the 3rd grade teachers is missing her leg after a train accident.

At one point the coordinator asked the girls in our troop if they'd "ever been to Walmart and seen someone in a wheelchair?" No girl raised her hand. There were no "Oh me oh me oh me." Not one girl could identify with going to Walmart. Crickets for the very kind SLU OT professor.

So I raised my own hand and announced, "We're more of a Target crowd." No offense to Walmart, but there just aren't any stores in our urban neighborhoods.

Thank you Jamieson bridge closure

2011-10-03T22:57:00.003-05:00

Of course the soccer season where many of our games are at Lindenwood Park, the Jamieson bridge closes for repairs. And the year the Arsenal bridge was closed was the Year of Epiphany t-ball. My 4 kids had games all across the city. We had 6 games this weekend at Tilles, Midwest Soccer, SLYSA, Lindenwood, Berra and a volleyball game at St. Margaret's. Plus karate at Karate Life and dancing at Little Flower school.

As usual I was lost wandering around back streets trying to get to Arsenal to get on EB 44. And I found this ugly thang.

Kiel

2011-10-01T18:15:00.002-05:00

I am glad the Kiel is reopening. I was at one of the last concerts- REM in 1986. Since then, I've graduated high school, law school, got married, had 4 kids and voila! it's open again.

About REM- I lost interest in 1989 as I was convinced they had sold out. I like the old stuff; haven't bought anything 'new' since then. See awesome set list below:

Poplar Bluff

2011-09-27T23:41:00.003-05:00

A freshly updated mansard in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. That'd be Butler County. Sorry for the poor photo quality. The sign says Poplar Bluff Realty Co.

I went to Poplar to take a deposition. It is a lovely drive through the Mark Twain National Forest. ANd finally it's safe. 67 south is now a 4 lane instead of a 2 lane. That drive used to be freaky scary. I never had the skill or courage to pass big trucks on the 2 lane. I would therefore drive about 50 mph stuck behind a logging truck. Now I can travel smoothly and enjoy the beautiful scenery in the Missouri Ozarks. Thanks MoDot!

Nattyville, Soulard, USA

2011-09-14T20:17:00.004-05:00

Golf carts and gators. Is this a retirement community in Phoenix or St. Louis' hippest neighborhood? Based on the green trees and red brick buildings, this ain't in Arizona. But still, everyone seems to drive a golf cart. This 'license plate' reads "Nattyville."

That's how we roll in Soulard. Drive your golf cart around and get some Natty at Vincent's. Which brings me to a friendly neighborhood reminder recently blasted on the Soulard email blaster- the 3rd district police wanted to remind everyone that golf cart drivers could be pulled over for suspected drunk driving and asked folks in the neighborhood to please be more care when they drive golf carts to the bars at night.

The only city neighborhoods where I've seen a lot of golf carts as modes of transportation are Soulard, Lafayette Square and St. Louis Hills (Kay's soccer coach drives a gold cart to and from practice).

Any golf carts in your neighborhood? Ever seen intoxicated golf cart drivers?

My secret life

2011-09-12T22:31:00.003-05:00

Writing badmansard is kind of a secret of mine. I really don't discuss it with friends, family, coworkers or neighbors. There are a few interested friends and family as well as some architect acquaintances who know my badmansard side. But work? No way. Never in all the minutes and hours of stupid office talk have I ever mentioned badmansard. And we talk about some really stupid stuff at work. Like Gordon Lightfoot and whether our previous PR guy looked like Andrew Cunanan (the guy who shot Versace).

Until I was driving around Madison with my coworker Steve and made him stop so I could take a picture. I had revealed myself. Steve was kind enough to send me a picture of a badmansard law office in West County. Here it is! And please, Steve, let's keep badmansard a secret and not mention it to Mike, Tim or Bob.

My sidewalk is in a documentary.

2011-09-01T21:02:00.003-05:00

A neighbor sent me this video. Imagine my surprise- right at about the 25 second mark there is my sidewalk. I am quite flattered my sidewalk made the cut.

Bad mansard featured in St. Louis Post Dispatch

2011-08-30T23:47:00.004-05:00

What happens when you put a boxy mansard atop a cute south city cottage? This. Read the August 27 article in the Post Dispatch by clicking here.

According to the article, the homeowners added the mansard to add more square footage to the house. It would have been more attractive to leave the original roof and park a mobile home in the back yard.

That said, the window box and garden are so cute I am going to forgive the roof.

I have gotten numerous citizen's bad mansard arrest warrants on this. Thanks to Patsy, Amy and Jeff for letting me know about this one.

Note- this picture is from the Post Dispatch. Betcha didn't know Badmanard has degrees in law, journalism and amateur architecture. Do you subscribe to the Post? You should. Print journalism is becoming a lost art. That, and all the good coupons are in the Sunday paper.

My day as an avocat Ste. Genevieve

2011-08-27T11:15:00.002-05:00

An avocat, by the way, is a lawyer. I am sure you know Ste. Genevieve, Missouri is one of the oldest French settlements west of the Mississippi River. I think this is the most mansardy courthouse in Missouri.

A nice mansard, although I am not crazy about the shingling on the taller part of the building. The church spire is part of the Ste. Genevieve Catholic church.

I thought I had been to most courthouses in Missouri. That is, until I scrolled through this list of courthouses and realized that at most I've been to only 30 of the roughly 120 courthouses in our state. I spent way too much time scrolling through the great photographs and histories. Be sure look at the photo of the above mansard with its original cresting and roof.

Two things I can relate to

2011-08-21T22:48:00.002-05:00

Orthodontics and a bad mansard backdrop. If you cannot read it, the sign says, "Grandchild needs braces, buy this truck." The mansard is one of my all-time least favorites featured back in 2009.

As for the orthodontics, my almost 9 year old daughter is doing a 'palate expander' which is a fancy cranking retainer that has been lost at least 5 times at $170 a piece.

The other daughter is almost 11 and has lovely teeth that are perfectly straight. Cool, no braces. Wait. She is MISSING her bottom permanent first molars. Her baby teeth should hopefully hold through high school at which time she'll need titanium implants. Those implants will probably cost more than braces.

It's always f. something.

Bad mansard, good beer

2011-08-12T07:40:00.003-05:00

This has been a summer of many road trips. On my work trip to Wisconsin we went to a lovely town, Stevens Point. "Point", as the locals call it, has three industries: education (there is a U of Wisconsin campus there), insurance (why I was there) and beer. Did you know that Schlafly here in in St. Louis bottles most of its beer in Point? I enjoyed a Spotted Cow, which really isn't a Point brewed beer but very good Wisconsin craft beer. The mansard speaks for itself.

Le salon

2011-07-31T23:22:00.008-05:00

Our parlor. I guess if I had a garage I could offsite some of this junk. But I don't. This is high Victorian mud room. It has 4 seasons:

Mardi Gras party & Girl Scout cookies- usually it works that we have our big party first, then the cookies arrive a few weeks later. Except this year the cookies arrived before Mardi Gras. I serve as the cookie mom for two troops and therefore we skipped the party this year (for many other reasons as well)
Christmas. This is the only room I decorate.
Fall birthday party zone. My kids are born in July, September and October (2) so we use this room to open presents, play games, work on crafts, etc. See picture below of Audrey's Top Chef birthday party where the girls decorated aprons.
The hold on to your hats time we are in right now- float trip/summer camp/back to school/vacation/go to the lake with grandma staging area.

About now. We're cramming all the above activities into a 21 day period. So why bother putting anything away? Here's some junk that will stay in the parlor until school starts and it's time for birthday parties. Counter clockwise from the cute girl in the purple shirt:

collapsed Easy Walker jog stroller. Love it. Got it cheap. Mimi is getting close to growing out the stroller but we will take it to the beach to transport the cooler, towels, etc.
that cool Japanese print? My grandmother doesn't care for Japanese art and gave it to me. Love it.
I love that mirror too. One of our first antique purchases. Got it from Sambeau's in the Central West End when we were first married in 1998. Had to have the mirror installed later (Chippewa Glass). It's huge.
Mantle is original to the house. It has a nice shell pattern. I have seen some mantle twins around town. I feel a special kinship with those other home owners. "OMG! We are mantle twins!"
Back to school supplies. Young Mimi can go to Montessori preschool this year with her older siblings so for the first time I bought back to school supplies for 4 kids.
Some bikes and scooters. Total city thing. Put your bike in the living room. Where else am I gonna put it?
Busch Bavarian and Bud Select cans. Hells to the yeah. I told you I was floating and going to the beach. Gotta have cans in coolies. Needn't fear. I have some better beer for drinking in the house.
Puked on booster seat. Gus got car sick onthe way to the float trip and barfed all over this booster. That was weird since it's been years since he's gotten sick. And then I remembered. He had Sunny D before we left. My mom is convinced orange juice makes his stomach queasy and car sick. She was clearly correct, assuming of course sunny D qualifies as orange juice.
There's Audrey. She's packing her shower tote for girl scout summer camp. She's the second oldest and gets a lot of hand me downs from her older sister. She was so happy to get a new shower tote and watch her older sister get stuck with the old one.

Westport

2011-07-26T21:20:00.004-05:00

I have personal boundaries. I like to stay away from certain parts of the St. Louis area. In general, I don't like it west of Lindbergh, south of Gravois, north of Delmar or east of the Mississippi river. Such ridiculous policies would explain why I've been writing badmansard for more than two years and just now made it to Westport Plaza. It is a mecca of badmansards.

Notes:

I was visiting a VERY IMPORTANT CLIENT out that way and it had a terrible mansard. But there are attorney/client privileges and one of them is that an attorney cannot make fun of her client's headquarter's roof.
I saw Modern English at Westport Playhouse in 1985 or so.
The girl scout store is out that way so now I have an excuse to explore the wonder of Westport's architecture style.

bitness trip

2011-07-20T21:31:00.006-05:00

Took a trip to Wisconsin to visit a friend, entertain clients, go on a nice long run, eat great food and drink beer. If you're thinking "oh how nice to get out of the St. Louis heat"-- not so fast. It was 95 there today and Wisconsin seemsless adept at handling the heat (AC seems less powerful).

This tower of mansard madness is in Madison on the University of Wisconsin campus.

Sorry for the poor photo quality. I was driving with a coworker and he wasn't interested in slowing down so I could take a proper picture.

Where has the été gone?

2011-07-11T23:37:00.004-05:00

Where has the summer gone? I've neglected poor badmansard. I've been busy elsewhere. Since I last posted: 4th of July madness, put the dog to sleep, soccer practices, orthodontist appointment, pastoral transition party (aka meet the new priest), work!, grown-up Pinewood Derby party, Mimi's 3rd birthday, my brother's family in town, sold a car seat and hopefully a stroller on Craigslist (totally annoying process), a little shopping, a kid with swimmer's ear, hosted an overnight, took audrey to a birthday party, a traveling husband, movies, and OMG! it's so hot I can barely focus on the next few days.

Speaking of hot and miserable. This mansard sit across 7th from the leveled Burger King on Park/7th (in my best Craig T. Nelson voice from Poltergeist, "you left the bodies and you only moved the headstones!). Click here if my joke makes no sense to you.

Sometimes I leave my van home with the babysitter and have my husband drive me to work. When it's time to leave work, I pack my purse and things in a backpack and run home from Met Square to Soulard pretty much down 7th to Russell and further to my house. Only about 2.7 miles but it is a terrible run. Hot because there is no shade, dirty, Cardinals traffic, pedestrians, 100 pavement changes, hobos, panhandlers, 18 wheelers, broken sidewalks, glass, human feces, some clothes and noise. This mansard and the lovely Sts. Peter and Paul church were the only attractive things I saw.

The Italians yet again

2011-06-29T22:40:00.003-05:00

This little butterface is for sale. Here's the listing: link. It's a cute place but for its top facade. I like the floor plan and the details inside. Rip the siding off the mansard, paint the kitchen a nice avocado green and it's a nice place for under $90,000.

Thanks to my friend Patsy for sending me the picture. Patsy was the first mommy friend I made. It was March 2001 and I was eating brunch with my newborn and husband at the now defunct market/coffee shop Marche (on Park in Lafayette Square where the Chocolate Bar is now located).

Patsy walked up to me and said, "hey, a few of us in the neighborhood just had babies and we get together for playdates and the like." And so it was. A Lafayette Square playgroup.

Now Patsy is the co-leader of the Brownie troop. She nor I live in Lafayette Square anymore. She lives in the neighborhood where my kids go to school and I live in the neighborhood where her kids go to school. I need to go get a drink with Patsy at the Chocolate Bar- where it all started.

Save the Del Taco flying saucer!

2011-06-24T09:50:00.003-05:00

Some short-sighted jerk wants to tear down this awesome building and make another ugly strip mall. If you're not in St. Louis, here's some background: the flying saucer was built in the 1960's a Phillips 66 and later a bank. In the 1980's it became a Naugles and is now a Del Taco. It's on the Saint Louis University campus. Drunk people have been getting late night food here for as long as I can remember.

Badmansard was a Naugles purist and went to the Maple-hood Naugles while in high school (photo below- now a Quiznos and a bad mansard). However, I went to law school at SLU and visited this site frequently. Let's not tear it down. It's a cool conversation piece.

Badmansard knows not every mid century modern can be saved, but we're smart enough to figure a way to keep this one. You can check out the facebook page here: LINK.

Lewd and Indecent Mansard Exposure

2011-06-18T16:00:00.002-05:00

Gentlemen, meet the Queen of Hearts, Fenton's premium strip club. It's not full on strip club, but rather a pasty club meaning the girls wear nipple coverings. That plan may have backfired for the Queen of Hearts. I'm told they've had problems with local law enforcement and the St. Louis County Liquor Commission for failure to adhere (pun intended) to the pasties and going full-on nudie instead.

I could have taken a better picture but I had to get the Busch sign in the picture. Ya'll know I love my Busch memorabilia.

Found this mansard running on the Meramec Trail while my oldest daughter had a soccer thing at Fenton Park. She plays on one of those year-round "select" clubs. Fortunately, it's a south-city centered club and we practice at Nottingham school. I am lazy and competitive at the same time.

Excited for tonight- at the recent school auction a group bought a VW microbus architectural pub crawl. Yes, all that. A group of us are getting in two VW Microbuses for a tour of St. Louis architectural highlights and stopping at bars and restaurants along the way.

Finally, Queen of Hearts is a Juice Newton song before all else:

Badmansard weekend

2011-06-12T22:55:00.009-05:00

Scenes from the badmansard weekend. Friday night we had a pool party for the 2nd and 4th grade GirlScouts atthe LafayetteSquare Bath and Tennis.

In our garden, the

Southern Magnolia re blooming. The bloom is lovely, but with the bloom comes shedding of big, crispy brown magnolia leaves. I pay the kids a nickel a leaf

to pick them up. THe other plant picture is my tree lawn (the strip of plantings betwe

en the sidewalk and

street). White Shasta daisy, purple sage, knock out roses.

Saturday featured a Crawfish boil. Good times were had by all. Fortunately, we put our collective parenting foot down and told the kids there would be no crawfish pets taken home from the party. And imagine my surprise when we arrived home- not soon thereafter the naked bike ride went by our house. In fact, there was a collision pile-up of nakeds!

Finally, Sunday was learn to play hock

ey at Affton, the only time we left the city limits. Gus calls this his hockey face.

Washington

2011-06-08T23:31:00.003-05:00

I go to Washington, MO about 4 times a year. This is a public works building built a few years ago. I think it is attractive and blends in well with the downtown Washington area.

The mansard that almost killed me...

2011-06-01T22:00:00.004-05:00

I run about 10 miles a week, divided between two 5 mile runs. This past Sunday, with temperatures in the upper 70's and humid, I decided to go for a longer run, just to prove to myself at age 40 that I could do it.

I run during the winter on the YMCA treadmills, frequently 7 miles. But running outside in the humidity for 7 miles is a little different. The first run in the summer heat is brutal, and upping my mileage by 2 miles was probably stupid. I ran from my house in Soulard all the way over Sidney, through Tower Grove Park to Kingshighway and then back. About 7 miles. By mile 6.25 I was about to die. I was on the stretch of Sidney between California and Jefferson and there were no trees, I was running uphill and kept looking for something that would give myself permission to stop running (red light, police barricade, chatting with a friends, ANYTHING!).

Saw a mansard in the distance. An oasis of sorts. A weird mansard next to the Bank of America at the city's most confusing intersection of Jefferson/Gravois/Sidney. I stopped and took a picture of a mansard.

This appears to be an art deco addition on the front. It is easy to miss because the house is hidden behind a tree. Goodness do I hate that door. After my badmansard break, I kept running and arrived home so sweaty that all the kids wanted to feel my calves because they were so wet and shiny.

Also featured is a great carriage stone on Sidney Street. I wonder if this is even a carriage stone, or a fancy hitch. A carriage stone is a big rectangle piece of marble or limestone plopped in the front of city homes, usually right by the front walk. The stones would allow the passenger of a horse-drawn coach to exit gracefully. They were installed when the houses were built, usually between 1870 and 1910. Once the automobile arrived people didn't need carriage stones anymore.

Some remain in place in the city of St. Louis in their original spot between the sidewalk and the street, others have been moved into gardens (they make great benches for kids to play and for grown-ups to read) and others were discarded (buried, put in the alley or broken into pieces). I am not sure I've ever seen a top part with a bar. Maybe there was a separate stone and this was the hitch. Or this could be the stone and the hitch together. I have no idea. Ideas regarding my miserable run and the carriage stone appreciated.

A video break from the bad mansards

2011-05-27T18:42:00.002-05:00

The Kevin Bacon Movie Club from Kevin Bacon

I rarely have any video. Here is some. The guy in this video is my prom date from 1989. Not Kevin bacon. The other guy.

Fave mansard, beer and what I'm doing this weekend

2011-05-19T22:02:00.004-05:00

This mansard on the Anehuser Busch (ok- fine - inBev- whatever) campus is one of my favorites. The mansard roof and widow's walk almost appear decorative. It works for me. Love this building.

Speaking of beer, the school picnic is tomorrow and the question for me is what to put in my cooler. The years where I pack nothing I'm stuck in a line for a half-tapped keg full of warm foam. The years when I plan and pack a cooler, there are troughs of decent beer everywhere. Or maybe I mix it up and bring vodka and lemonade.

Another busy weekend: dance recital, niece's graduation, birthday party, hockey, 2 soccer games and a sorority ladies brunch. My challenge will be to have a picture of a really bad mansard by the end of the weekend. ETA: I am also packing SVDP pantry baskets on Sunday and I hope John can take the kids to the Budrovich Meet the Machines event on Saturday.

Cornerstones

2011-05-09T23:12:00.003-05:00

I love cornerstones on churches. I HATE when the original organizers' identities are sandblasted away like at this church, Trinity Baptist on Sidney. This botched attempt at covering up the name of the original church looks a little like White-Out.

My message to the current churches is this: look, church people, you may own the building now but you cannot change who laid the cornerstone.

This church looks like it used to be a German church- maybe Lutheran or maybe German Evangelical (some of which are now Evangelical Lutheran and others are part of the UCC. I know about this because the guy who built this house was German Evangelical "Evangelische Kirche" in German).

If you are keeping track, I am collecting pictures of cornerstones, bad mansards and Lustrons.

Straight outta Compton- 3

2011-05-05T22:16:00.004-05:00

Compton Avenue, north side of 44 behind SLU Medical School. Am I the only one who sings NWA's Straight outta Compton anytime I drive on Compton?

Weird house- looks like a nondescript 1880's building with a mansard smashed on the front. Plus new construction in the next door neighbor house. The whole scene is an architectural mismatch.

Below is the NWA video. It too is mismatched. Ice Cube and Dre talking of pimps, hoes and grabbing AK-47's of the shelf. HA!. Dre is now a successful producer and Cube starred in Friday, Barbershop and Are we there yet? (a badmarsard family favorite).

Bad Mansard v. Alabama twister

2011-05-01T21:40:00.004-05:00

Here's what's left of a bad mansard apartment? Office building? John's second cousin Jessica H. took these photos in her town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. John has a large extended family in Alabama and fortunately they are all ok.

Having grown up in St. Louis, I am quite used to tornado sirens. Seems like they go off all the time now, perhaps due to tornadic (is that a word?) in adjacent counties.

Sometimes I am a bit nonchalant about getting down to the basement when the sirens start howling, and then talking. They do that now- talk- like the teacher in Charlie Brown. Scenes like this and our own Good Friday Tornado and the Tornado of 1896 are a reminder to me that I should get myself into the basement.

Our first house in Lafayette Square didn't have a 3rd floor. Its 3rd floor was ripped off in the 1896 tornado. The roof and then bricks were peeled from the masonry home and went flying, likely into windows and people. That brick cyclone must have been horrifying and terribly dangerous.

Lesson- get in the damn basement.

Ballin' on a Budget

2011-04-24T20:48:00.003-05:00

Northbound Kingshighway. This gentleman is evidently ballin' on a budget. I don't know exactly what that means, but I assume he is trying to live life to the fullest on limited funds.

Let's break that down. He's on a budget. Me too! This past week was a huge financial drain.

ran over some nails, waited too long to have the tire serviced, left work on Monday to find a flat front tire. I had to coordinate AAA to change my tire in the Met Square garage. Had Dobbs just south of the ballpark fix the tire and replace two tires long overdue for a tire change. I liked that Dobbs. But it was still $300 out of my pocket
taxes! OMG. We owed big time.
Have to put down a deposit on our vacation
Paid Girl Scout camp balance for two daughters
Spent a lot at the school auction
Randomly spend $60 getting my shoes fixed and $50 on dry cleaning
Paid remaining balance on our school 2011-2012 registration fee
Just took John's car in for its annual appointment (like a well woman exam for cars). Even though it has an extended warranty and extended service plan we will probably pay for that too.

Back to Mr. Ballin' on a Budget. He's also trying to be ballin'. I think that means he's trying to make each day exciting and interesting. Yes, I know there are a lot of other definitions of ballin. I'd like to be ballin' this week but I cannot. No time for ballin'. Here's why

I will probably be dealing with post-Easter sugar crashing all day tomorrow.
have to work 4 days this week instead of my usual 3
week includes a huge client seminar and two depositions
tee-ball, softball, lacrosse, soccer, hockey, dance, choir, art
escorting the preschool montessori to the zoo on Friday (one of my days off)
Audrey's 1st communion is on Sunday and must clean house, develop meal plan and make sure 4 kids and husband have the correct clothing and hair

Ode to the hosta

2011-04-18T22:46:00.003-05:00

Don't know what I'd do in the bad mansard garden without the mighty hosta. We have multiple types all over the place; I think this one is a Frances Williams variety.

I love them when they are at this stage of growth. Just leafing out and so full of potential. Wanna split them into two new plants? Go for it. Do you think they'd look better in another spot in the yard? Go ahead, dig them up and move them. They won't care.

The hosta starts strong and loses is steam as the summer progresses. By the end of the summer they'll look haggard. The slugs, hail, dogs, kids and sun will reduce them to floppy, yellowing Swiss cheese. And then they'll die down and start the process all over.

Dare I say I find the hosta motivational? Every summer they get stomped, sun scorched and torn apart. And every spring they come back happy and ready to go.

Hosta are a good lesson in life. Every day something will stomp and scorch you a little. Take a rest, refresh and plan a comeback. And be sure there are hosta in your garden.

Let's pause for a Lustron

2011-04-13T21:37:00.005-05:00

Pausing for a photo of a Lustron. I grew up in Brentwood and then Webster Groves, the St. Louis hotbeds of Lustron homes. As a kid, it seemed like Lustrons were everywhere. We didn't call them Lustron homes. There weren't any conversations that went like this,

me, with "DIY Mohawk Barbie": "Hey, Erika, let's go over Debbie's Lustron home and play Barbies."

Erika, holding Barbie with a markered purple leg by her foot: "oh, really, she lives in a Lustron home? You know those were an important post WWII housing trend that will surely become an iconic architecture style."

Nope. We didn't talk like that. We called them metal houses or houses that looked like quilts. My favorite is (was?) at the corner of Ridge and Edgar in Webster Groves by Blackburn Park.

This one is on Litzsinger across from McGrath Elementary in Brentwood.

Badmansard takes the Brownies to Old North

2011-04-04T00:05:00.005-05:00

We worked on the Show Me patch (click here) in two meetings, learning about our neighborhoods, their architecture and history. I thought this patch was appropriate for our Brownies who live in 8+ historic St. Louis neighborhoods and come from 3 different schools.

When we formed our troop, the handshake agreement was I would be the 'leader' but only in the sense I'd take care of paperwork, cookies, scheduling, etc. At each meeting we run it co-op style. Everyone takes turn leading and helping. It works out quite well and the meeting stay fresh.

We started at the Soulard School where we learned about the anatomy of a neighborhood, painted pictures of our neighborhoods and played some old fashioned games like Kick the Can and Red Rover. The girls loved the meeting at the Soulard School, especially that climber.

A few weeks later we went to Old North to help in the community garden planting vegetable seeds. Can you guess the favorite activity in the garden? (hint: it said bawk bawk). After that was over, we went to view the artwork at La Mancha coffee house.

Patch earned. Girls loved getting dirty and then seeing their art on a coffee house wall.

Of These are some of my favorite pictures. Of course my kid puts Vincent's Market on her Soulard Scene! And 9th Street deli. Both fine establishments.

And here are the mansards of Old North

2011-04-03T23:55:00.005-05:00

Obviously I took some pictures of some Old North mansards. Here is quite a range of potential- what can be done and what needs to be done. I'd be interested to hear how many of the falling down buildings are owned by Paul McKee and his many entities.

someone's badmansard garage

2011-03-30T23:03:00.004-05:00

Nestled in a forested Chesterfield neighborhood is this badmansard garage. I'm told the house is actually normal looking but that's hard to imagine.

Thanks to my architect friend JR for sending me the picture. I really appreciate the efforts people make to send me badmansards. I know from experience what a PITA it is to get the right badmansard shot-- slowing your car, trying to frame the picture, and worrying the homeowner may calls the police on you. If I ever am approached by homeowners or the police about taking pictures of people's houses, my response is that I write an "architectural blog" not "I'm making fun of your ugly house on the internets."

In JR's case, he was on a long bike ride and stopped to take a picture for me.

I dunno

2011-03-20T22:57:00.003-05:00

Driving down Lynch Street in Benton Park, this mansard jumped out at me. As I slowed my 2005 minivan (it may be dorky and dirty, but paid off), the kids screamed in unison, "MMMMOMMMMMM! NOOOOOO! You're embarrassing us. do NOT take a picture."

But I did. And here it is. This place bothers me. I think it's the brick color and siding. The mansard is nice as is the 2nd floor window. I like the paint colors. The windows are smaller than they should be, but interesting. No vestibule so that's weird. It shouldn't bother me but it does.

Please comment.

Quelle Horreur!

2011-03-12T07:12:00.002-06:00

From our favorite badmansard enthusiast in New Orleans, Karen Gadbois. According to the comments in Flickr, this is (or used to be) a Popeye's. And it would appear that lava rock or some other type of landscape rock was used in the facade. Now St. Louis has its fair share of badmansards and Popeye's chicken, but I have never seen anything like this.

Disturbing images, City of St. Louis

2011-03-04T17:04:00.004-06:00

Disturbing yes, but also very funny.

Look closely at the trash truck. There is a baby face sticking out of the bumper. I've also seen a refuse truck with an Elmo affixed to the front grill. I am going to start collecting pictures of trash trucks.

The second picture is the message board at the Lafayette Square playground: "Have fun kids. You could die tomorrow." Brutal!

Badmansard is a bad tourist

2011-02-27T21:49:00.005-06:00

When traveling abroad (and in the US), I try to be a good tourist. I dress quietly. I carry a map, try to speak the local language, eat what the locals eat and avoid anything that makes me look too American (or, worse, Midwestern). But by the last couple of days of any trip overseas, I lose my cool and unravel.

It usually involves large amounts of alcohol and/or McDonalds. I drank so much Rum and Coke in Cuernavaca, Mexico that on the bus trip back to Mexico City I stuck my head out the window of the bus and puked into traffic. All in front of my mother-in-law, who wasn't my mother-in-law yet. Thank goodness for the McDonald's in the Mexico City airport.

In Amsterdam, John and I were so tired we read in an English bookstore in the train station. And found McDonalds. We've also been to McDonald's in Paris and Prague.

On the most recent trip to Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany, we watched this clip of the Family Guy in the town square on an iphone, laughed way too loudly and wound up at McDonald's the next day. Because I am an Midwesterner and ich liebe es.

The Italians again

2011-02-16T22:39:00.005-06:00

On Shaw Avenue in the Hill neighborhood (Italians). I think the front part used to be a storefront many years ago. Such an arrangement would allow the shopkeeper to live behind the store and maximize the parcel.

Pretty funky. I'd date the original mansardette to the 1890's and the front piece to the 1920's. I base this opinion on the brick color, the facade of the front unit and my make-it-up-as-i-go-along expertise.

Man(sard) on Fire!

2011-02-06T22:40:00.003-06:00

A first- a mansard apartment complex on fire. Thanks to reader DAB for sending photographs of these mansards sur le feu. I do hope that everyone in the complex was ok and I feel for the residents, who likely lost all of their possessions and may not have had renter's insurance.

About Colorado Springs, and Colorado, doesn't it seem like every has moved there? I guess between the mountains, skiing, universities and ad agencies, it's the place to go.

How hoosiers do a mansard

2011-01-28T22:07:00.004-06:00

It took me a few seconds to figure out the problem with this Benton Park 2-family at McNair near Gravois, across the street from Hodak's Fried Chicken. This mansard is totally white trash (or, as we'd say, hoosier). So bad, in fact, that I started thinking and talking like a hoosier.

I says in my best South City voice, "Where da third floor windows?" And then I thinks to myself I think I seen that the third floor facade is vinyl siding or some type of corrugated steel.

I *imagine* this was botched by a hoosier-turned-rehabber too cheap to properly shingle the third floor. Our rehabber used to be a roofer but he got drunk and fell off a roof a few years back. At the time, he was getting paid under the table and wasn't an actual employee of the shady contractor who brought him onto the job for $100 and a case of Busch and a bottle of Jack. The roofer tried to get workers comp from the contractor. Continuing in my imagination, the ALJ considered our roofer to be a statutory employee of the contractor but assessed a 50% safety penalty for being drunk so pretend roofer didn't actually get any money. So, he turned to rehabbing on the south side used some scrap metal to rehab this place. None of this happened but that is the level of workmanship of the facade.

But, remember a lot of roofers are drunks so be careful who you hire.

And don't shingle your third floor with siding.

Badmansard in Bavaria

2011-01-24T23:04:00.002-06:00

The yellow house was the closest thing I saw to a mansard. Kind of a Bavarian Mansard-- a bavomansard if you well.

That's me in the pink near a train station. We liked the type face. The guy is my husband enjoying a German bakery.

who can explain this?

2011-01-21T23:58:00.001-06:00

attached mini-mansards with different front elevations (did I use the word right? I mean the front walls are set at differing points back from the sidewalk.)

Badmansard goes abroad

2011-01-17T22:41:00.002-06:00

Went to Allemand (germany) for a week with my husband. He conducted business while I looked at old stuff, shopped and drank a lot. That's me taking a picture of a lovely nativity scene in the Marienplatz in Garmisch Partenkirchen (that's where we stayed).

I thought we'd find a bunch of bad mansards in Germany with the post war development. WRONG. Not in Bavaria. Bavaria chose to rebuild historically and thus NOT A SINGLE mansard, or badmansard, anywhere.

Pics soon.

Thanks Vampire Weekend!

2011-01-10T10:07:00.004-06:00

I don't know if badmansard if more popular due to this song by Vampire Weekend, Mansard Roof.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I promise big things soon.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T08:49:00.005-06:00

This is the best I can come up with for a festive Christmas bad mansard. I guess the solid block of green trim makes it Christmas-y. In a Twelve Days of Christmas theme, here are its gifts.

bad Home Depot door
the door seems to be floating, suggesting maybe it was built up to fit the smaller specs of said Home Depot door rather than a larger city-style door
missing window panel on second floor covered by plywood
lacking porch
wrapped in siding
did I mention it was TAN siding
windows not historically appropriate
brackets and cornice painted one uniform shade of green
shutters also not original to a house of this era
looks like basement windows buried under yard
the green shutter on the top is falling off
the mailbox?

Merry Christmas!

Mansard et Music

2010-12-17T15:46:00.005-06:00

I'm sure the greater St. Louis area is wondering, "hey, what is the badmansard family listening to this Christmas?"

My favorites:

Fairytale of New York by the Pogues. Is there anything better than this sweet Christmas song sung by a toothless drunk Irish guy who slurs his gal is a "old slut on junk." Kirsty MacColl sings the female part. She was tragically killed in 2000. She was a back up singer on many Smiths and Morrissey songs (Golden Lights, Ask and Interesting Drug).

Merry Chistmas Darling by the Carpenters. Yep. Love the Carpenters

Winter Wonderland by the Cocteau Twins

Good King Wenceslas

Ding Dong Merrily on High

The Holly and the Ivy, especially the Judy Collins version

Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney. I know some hate this song but I have good memories of driving around Queeny Park in the back of our Nova in the snow listening to this song.

I Saw Three Ships, except the Sting version. Sting should only be permitted to sing Police songs.

Merry Christmas Mary by Johnny Cash. While hardly a carol, this is one is the best Christmas homages (and maybe only) to Mary.

Our favorite-- tasteful drum roll please-- Il Est ne le Divin Enfant. Whether by the Chieftains, Annie Lennox or the Vienna Boys Choir, j'adore this French carol. Above is Siouxsie and the Banshees, including the Cure's Robert Smith.

And these songs make me want to put a dirty knife in my eye:

Rocking around the Christmas Tree.

White Christmas

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Happy Christmas/War is Over (blech!!!)

Mariah Carey songs of all type and variety

I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

any Christmas song performed by Candlematch Nickelbox or its contemporaries

That joke isn't funny any more

2010-12-16T00:38:00.008-06:00

This sad, sad little thang is at Pennsylvania and Chippewa. Despite the freezing temps, I pulled over and took a picture. And this unhappy, depressing Smiths song went through my head.

A song about parking on the side of the road and laughing at people (well, their houses). A bad mansard CLOSE TO HOME (this house is a few miles from my own; I think this was in Marine Villa).

I don't think Morrissey was thinking about bad mansards when he and Johnny Marr wrote That Joke, but I still felt slightly ashamed taking this picture because this little guy is in such bad shape.

park the car at the side of the road

you should know, time's tide will smother you
and I will too
when you laugh about people who feel so very lonely
their only desire is to die
well, I'm afraid it doesn't make me smile
I wish I could laugh

but that joke isn't funny anymore
it's too close to home
and it's too near the bone
it's too close to home
and it's too near the bone

So there you have it. A mansard that tore at my heart and made me feel shameful. A house that is so very Smiths-y. South City St. Louis is quite far away from Morrissey's hometown of Manchester, England, but somehow I can imagine him and this house understanding each other.

an aside: I did see a solo Morrissey perform at the Orpheum in 1998 (guessing on date). He was pissed at the venue and even madder when all people wanted to hear was Smiths songs. He performed for 40 minutes, told the audience St. Louis sucked and stormed off the stage. And folks thought it was still awesome. After we left, my husband got drunk sick in the St. Charles alley at 11st Street. As he puked, he reminisced about how much the Smiths had meant to him as a younger man.

Park Clayton

2010-12-09T21:15:00.004-06:00

As best as I can tell, this is neither in Clayton nor adjacent to a park. It is, however, near Clayton and close to a couple of parks. Mansard apartment in Dogtown.

Speaking of dogtown, I think it is important to have friends residing in key locations:

A Soulard friend who has a warm house with a clean bathroom for Mardi Gras
A Shaw friend on Flora Place for the art fair

A friend on the WG 4th of July Parade Route

A friend in Lafayette Square for the bike races
Someone with a good view of fireworks (Kirkwood, WG, downtown, etc)

and, finally, a Dogtown friend for the St. Patrick Parade. Amy Z. is my dogtown friend. Our picture above.

I admit to liking this color combination

2010-12-04T11:38:00.004-06:00

Another from our friend Karen Gadbois in New Orleans. I've always kind of liked turquoise blue and red together.

Do you think this was at one time a franchise restaurant , like a Jack in the Box or KFC?

Ma maison! Before and after.

2010-11-29T23:06:00.005-06:00

Stumbled across an old page on urbanstl.com with a bunch of pictures of Soulard's housing stock. Actually, the neighborhood association sent the information.

Most of the pictures were taken in the late 1960's/early 1970's. They are awesome. Let me know if you want the link.

Brief house history: built by a German named John Puff in 1886. He was a commodities guy and brokered the grain and hops supplies to the local breweries. Door on the side was a business entrance. It's a weird house because it's a central hall plan but the house, while it looks enormous, is only 2 rooms deep. Turns out this house was built on the back of the lot on Sidney street, perhaps illegally.

House went to Puff's daughter Christina Fath and her husband Conrad in the late 1890's when John died suddenly in California. They were all German Evangelical Lutherans and went to St. Marcus Church. I think that particular branch was absorbed by the UCC.

House was owned by some German Catholics through the 1930's but then was converted to a boarding house. It remained a boarding house (like when this pic was taken) until 2001 and was a popular place for the just-released-from-prison set.

I'm surprised by:

lack of vegetation , street trees, etc.
the house looks better than I thought it would have
what's with the side entrance portico?
thing you cannot see: the gutters were lined with asphalt and I now have major leaky and screwed up gutters.
partial white picket fence? My neighbor to the south had some too until last year.
Most of the features- chandeliers, mantles, etc.- were left intact and lovingly restored.

The whole set of pictures is fascinating. I'll try to post occasional pictures. I am starting with the best picture first.

And, don't think because I have posted a picture of my house you can come axe murder me. I have dogs, alarms and a 6'5" husband.

What up shortie?

2010-11-26T18:41:00.002-06:00

A pair of oddballs on 18th Street in Benton Park. Mini-mansard Permastone craziness to the right, and an infill (?) to the left. I hate that red mulch and the overgrown yew shrubs in front of the mansard. The little place to the left is kinda cute.

Trivia: Name a street found in Benton Park, Soulard and Lafayette Square. Answer: 18th Street.

Philadelphia double-decker mansard

2010-11-19T17:23:00.002-06:00

I have to admit: I was close to running out of mansard material. I scrounged through my iphoto library for a mansard I may have forgotten to post. I said a little prayer to the patron saint of bad mansards (just kidding, although I would assume would be the patron saint of architecture, St. Barbara or St. Thomas the Apostle).

A day or two later, reader Paul sent me some flickr photos for some bad mansards. Thanks Paul! This is a view of Philadelphia's historic Broad Street.

A 3 story building, 2 stories of which is all crazy mansard roof. Is it old? New? Infill? A bad facade? I'm going with bad facade over a historic building. The windows level up perfectly with the building to the right. It would appear the shell exterior scales down the original size of the windows. That never looks good. Reminds me of this building in Soulard: click here.

Please don't do this

2010-11-14T13:21:00.004-06:00

Marine Villa, I think. I'm running out of mansard pictures and found this in iphoto.

Could have been a peach of a place but it's been ruined by Permastone and bad replacement vinyl windows on top. At least, I think that's Permastone. I'm going to feel really bad if that's not Permastone and instead an 19th century attempt at a Richardsonian 2nd Empire Mansard.

Sacred Heart in St. Charles: where an American saint meets a bad mansard

2010-11-07T22:48:00.006-06:00

These are photographs of two buildings on the Sacred Heart campus in St. Charles, Missouri. One is the historic mansard on campus, probably built in the 1880's. The other is a bad mansard meant to echo the stylings of the first.

St. Charles is now a ex-burb of St. Louis but 200 years ago it was a town up the Missouri river, the last outpost before Lewis and Clark hit the trail. St. Rose Philippine Duchesne founded this school in 1818 and it would be the first of many Sacred Heart Schools in America. St. Rose is our hometown girl saint; she started off in France but left after the French Revolution to help out our hometown boys, the Jesuits. I cannot do her story justice, so click here to read more about her incredible story.

I am sure a lot of important people have gone to Sacr

ed Heart, but the one who stands out in my mind is Project Runway Season 2 finalist Santino Rice, Sacred Heart alum.

Thanks to a mom of a brownie in our troop for getting the pictures to me. I love our brownie troop for so many reasons- the girls are cute, curious and smart. Their moms are awesome too and send me bad mansards.

Oktoberfest mansard. What? October is over?

2010-11-03T23:04:00.004-05:00

Here's a nice mansard in Hermann, the Gasthaus. If I hadn't been slowed down by two of my kids' weeklong birthday celebrations**, 4 soccer games per week and an out-of-town husband, I would have posted a picture of an Oktoberfest hotspot in October.

You know what else slowed me down in October: Oktoberfest, Halloween and the beverages that go with them.

Loved Soulard Oktoberfest in Lyon Park. We went on Friday at 6. Perfect timing because we went right in, got beer, sat down, danced, went home by 10. I really like Chikeria (from Munich). They're kind of like a German ska band. And they start every song with, "this song, it is a very special song..."

And Halloween. My husband's employer had a private concert with Tone Loc (Funky Cold Medina) and Digital Underground (Humpty Dance!!!). Excellent times. For a costume, I dressed as Blair from the Facts of Life.

Back to the mansard. Who loves wrought iron cresting? Me.

**does that sound like I spoil my kids with The Week of Gus or the Week of Kay? You know how it goes- family party, party with friends, bring treats to school. Takes up the whole week.

Iconic St. Louis institutions with bad mansards

2010-10-22T14:02:00.002-05:00

New category- St. Louis landmarks with bad mansard roofs. Here is Hans Weiman, where men (and women) can get their hairs restored. I think Hans may have moved locations from this location on Brentwood Blvd. But, in my mind this will always be Hans Weiman.

Funny story. Stop reading if you're not into inside jokes that happened 20 years ago in Webster Groves. I used to work at the WG pool. There was an intercom/PA system. The pool staff had a great time making up fake pages for others. For instance, after a lifeguard fell and skinned his knee, "Mr. Garth [pool mgr], Terry Crouppen of the law firm of Brown and Crouppen on the phone for you."

There are two guys. Jeff K. is my husband's boss but my old coworker. Bo K. is also a family friend. Poor Bo K, who was quite handsome, was teased for his hairline. Mind you, he wasn't bald nor did he even really even have thinning hair. But, his hockey nickname was Smoothie for his 'smooth' head of hair. Thus, the page to the hundreds of people at the WG pool by Jeff K to Bo K: "Bo, Hans Weiman on the phone for you. Your hairpiece is ready for pickup."

Did the early 1990's bar scene nurture my love of the 2nd Empire mansard roof?

2010-10-16T23:45:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I've featured a pretty mansard. This cute house a reminder of what a proper mansard roof should look like. J'adore wrought iron cresting and thus I've always had a crush on this house. I remember it from when me and my party people would come to McGurks during college breaks. We'd look for parking and I'd always say, "I love that house." Of course, now I live a few blocks from this house. Coincidence? Or destiny?

I've added a new tag: pretty 2nd Empire houses near bars where I went 20 or so years ago.

this house---Soulard---McGurks

houses on Park Ave----Lafayette Square---Killabrews

houses on Sidney Street----Benton Park----Cats Meow and Sidney Street

Another retirement mansard

2010-10-13T22:12:00.001-05:00

Another mansard retirement home for you, this time in Evanston, IL. My Evanston man-on-the-street Dan Consiglio sent it. He wonders if it is called Mansard Arms.

Not a mansard, just bad

2010-10-07T22:11:00.006-05:00

Here is some signage seen throughout the City of St. Louis parking garage at 7th and Pine. It reads, "We do not except no bill highter than a twenty." [sic] Yes. Someone wrote, printed, copied and and posted this message many times despite multiple errors- "no bill", highter and except.

There are approximately 4 people who work in this garage. The booth attendant read books and talks on the phone. The other three play solitaire in the office on the computers and smoke. They don't watch the garage or monitor the security cameras. How do I know? Because cars in this garage get broken into all the time. I am convinced it's an inside job, or at the very least, someone letting a friend enter the garage and break into cars.

I am usually very proud of the work performed by the various departments in the city. I think forestry, streets, parks and refuse do a great job. I love the Citizen's Service Bureau. I think the courts are well run, as is Gregory FX Daly's Office (Collector of Revenue) and Sharon Quigley Carpenter's Office (Recorder of Deeds). I am madly in love with the nice guy who answer the phone in the water department.

But this garage is a joke and an embarrassment. The staff is lazy, rude and likely criminal. And my tax dollars pay four people to sit around and do close to NOTHING all day, except print signs without using spell check.

I think I am going to report the spelling and grammar errors to Citizen's Service Bureau.

addendum: I am also bothered by the notice that the garage will be "locked down". First, that's a lie. Second, what is this, prison?

Does the mansard even matter?

2010-10-05T00:14:00.002-05:00

Here at on Gravois at Ohio is the 1 Night Stand. One stop shopping for:

Lottery tickets
Awful permastone facade
Bud Light
Karaoke
Packaged liquor
"Coldest beer"
Latin Rite Mass (St. Francis DeSales is across the street)

Nursing Maison

2010-09-28T23:13:00.003-05:00

When we put our loved ones into nursing homes, there are so many important things to think about. What will the residents be doing? What kind of nursing care if offered? Is the food good? Are there independent living options?

And the architecture of the roof? Is that important? I say yes. Here we have a bad mansard nursing home that kind of looks like a storage unit. And I feel really bad saying that because nice old people have to live here. The place looks tidy and clean; I am hopeful the operations of the home are as well maintained.

Thanks to S. from Charleston, SC for this bad mansard located in Cartersville, Georgia.

Combien de maisons?

2010-09-21T23:04:00.005-05:00

Driving down Sidney today on the way back from Tower Grove Park. The fire department had Sidney closed off, forcing me to detour and, voila, find this doozie.

Very strange double wide unit, 3 story mansard to the left, sans mansard to the right. Originally, was this one house? Two houses? Where did the other mansard roof go? What's with the portion of the sad building that juts out? Does the decorative detail at the top continue all the way across? John and I debated this.

He says/she says:

John: This was two buildings joined by bricking the gangway that would have existed between the two buildings. It looks like there are side entrances so it's unlikely that center door is the original. Also, the foundations are different and there appears to be brick 'seams' on either side of the center window, suggesting the center section was bricked in later.

Kristan: I think it was a huge house with one mansard roof and for some reason (tornado?) the right side came off. It was rebuilt with just one side. After all, why would you brick in a gangway and add a second floor? WHat do you gain from that, another 20 square feet? And if the early homeowners bricked over a gangway, wouldn't the brick be much, much different? I also think the frieze above the windows continues across the entire building.

At Ohio and Shenandoah. I guess I could look up the city records or look closer at the basement level. What do you think?

Biggest and Baddest Mansard in America

2010-09-12T23:22:00.004-05:00

Not only is this the largest home for sale in America, it's the largest bad mansard ever created. 90,000 square feet and unfinished. Asking price, as is, $75 million.

This place looks like a strip mall conference center. I have no idea what kind of building materials are on the outside, but the blue mansard makes the stonework look plastic and fake.

Thanks to Matt for sending me the picture.

Lindell moderne

2010-09-04T17:18:00.005-05:00

Modern mansion on Lindell between Union and the Musee de Histoire in Forest park. Look closely at the roof- little baby squishy mansards perched on each level.

Why was I traveling Lindell? I went to Vatican Splendors with Kay's 4th grade class. It was wonderful; would have been better if I could have looked at all of the fabulous material without being interrupted by a bunch of 9 year olds.

Warning- they are HARD CORE at Vatican Splendors about cameras (none), cell phones (totally off), and food/drink. I had to excuse myself when Mimi demanded her raisins. Still, highly recommended.

continuing with our vacances

2010-08-27T18:38:00.003-05:00

Corvallis, Oregon. My stereotype of Oregon: cool, lush and lovely.

When I think summer in Michigan, I think moustique

2010-08-19T21:45:00.003-05:00

Mosquitos, that is. Lot of friends enjoy summers in Michigan. I've heard it's lovely and the mosquitos are huge. This bad mansard is a brown, multi-level professional building. Thanks to friend Wayne for sending the picture.

The badmansard vacation continues. Of note, I'm not vacationing but I'm featuring mansards from around the country. I did, however, go on the Meramec River float trip.

aller au magasin de vins et de spiritueux (going to the liquor store)

2010-08-12T23:12:00.004-05:00

We floated the upper Meramec this week with John's family. It was 100 degrees but it really was a nice float. Every good float trip starts with a trip to the liquor store. We like cans of Busch and Budweiser. Here's Meramec Package Liquor in Cuba, Missouri- a bad mansard.

Some audio for you: The Urge's Open All Night, aka Going to the Liquor Store.

C'est les Vacances!

2010-08-06T10:01:00.006-05:00

It's the month of Août; time for vacation! Let's head east to Worcester, MA. Here's a bad mansard on Millbrook Street. It's intriguing- look at the curved window brackets, porch mansardette and, omg, please rip out the square of dead, overgrown shrubbery. Thanks reader Sean for the the photo.

We'll also head north to Michigan, west to Oregon and south to Louisiana later this month.

Would love a San Francisco bad mansard. Anyone?

Mansard a Manhattan

2010-07-27T21:43:00.003-05:00

This sad mansard is in the super cute City of St. Louis border neighborhood of Elldendale. I met my mom and her husband at Piccadilly's for lunch to pick up my older daughters. Piccadilly's is a nice little place, by the way. Service is a little slow, but it's a pleasant wait. Food is good. Beer is cold. Ellendale is the neighborhood east of McLains, the dive bar at Big Bend and Oxford.

I'm a little embarrassed that until today I did not know this little cute neighborhood was in the city. I always assumed it was Maplewood. I grew up in Brentwood and Webster Groves and drove down Big Bend 10,000 times and never, ever knew the city of St. Louis was so close.

That brings up another topic. I was talking to a city friend who explained some people she knew in the county (mostly far west county and St. Charles) refused to come to the city. I've never, ever encountered that with my Webster/Kirkwood/Glendale/Rock Hill/Brentwood/Ladue friends. I think the city and the inner portions of the county share a lot of attributes: big trees, pretty houses, neat neighbords, gridded streets and railroads.

Mansard Bleu

2010-07-25T21:54:00.003-05:00

It's blue. It's a mansard. 'Nuff said.

Say, that reminds me. I watched Ocean's 13 last night and 'Nuff Said was the game promoted by the Bernie Mac's (RIP) character Frank Catton.

And "say, that reminds me" is straight from Raising Arizona.

So, now you know some favorite movies around our house.

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. D. Beck for the photograph.

Mansartment

2010-07-18T22:44:00.004-05:00

Apartment building in Evanston, IL, courtesy of Dan. Isn't Dan great? Do you need some video of Dan to put a face with a name? Here you go:

Hermann

2010-07-15T23:28:00.004-05:00

This is a nice corner in Hermann, Missouri. Three story commercial building, mansard roof, iron cresting. Nice window detail. I think it was built in the 1880's.

For those who do not know, Herman is a lovely little German town featuring many picturesque wineries. We went there a lot in college and law school, usually in the back of a big yellow school bus.

Today I went to Hermann for work so I drove myself and didn't drink at all. Whole town looked very different. Hermann, by the way, has some great little antique stores.

Graffiti- I'm cute!

2010-07-11T08:12:00.003-05:00

This is a trash container on the Lafayette side of Lafayette Park installed when I still lived on Mississippi, perhaps 8 years ago. Almost as soon as this receptacle went in, someone wrote "your cute" [sic] on it. I so badly want to add an apostrophe so it reads "you're cute." I do appreciate the kind words and I am glad the message is still there. Quite motivating- running Lafayette Park (4 laps = 3.5 miles) and reading that I'm cute.

What is French for "Drunk guy threw my flower pot in the street"?

2010-07-05T14:33:00.003-05:00

I must be a magnet for this stuff (or, more likely, my house is on a busy-ish street and also near a bus stop). Police knocked on the door. "Did you call 911?" Nope. Not me.

"Ma'am, please step outside." At this point I assume I'm in trouble for bad parallel parking or, even worse, that there's a warrant out for my arrest due a technical error or something.

Nothing like that. Turns out a drunk guy picked up my freshly potted geranium and threw it at a bus. There was a news crew in the area which captured the episode on film. The crew also called the police.

The police asked if I wanted to press charges. I eventually said yes, not because I felt like a victim or anything, but because my perfectly matched flower pots were unmatched and I now had to go back to the flower store for more geraniums, an unnecessary waste of my very precious time. Stupid drunk.

Une légende

2010-06-24T22:40:00.004-05:00

And legendary this mansard is. (sorry if légende is masculine not feminine).

I saw a picture of this mansard years ago on a local St. Louis architecture/preservation page-- BELT? Commenters on that blog labeled this Cousin It. Perhaps the memory of this tres bad mansard stayed in my subconscious and years later motivated me to start badmansard. Am I right that this is a cinder block rectangle with a shingled mansard as tall as the building itself but for 8 inches on the bottom which might house Aquatech trolls?

If I had a crown of bad mansards, there would be four jewels: this one, the Hannibal Mullet mansard, Chicago drive-thru banque (more trolls live in its drive through roof/see window) and one more, a mansard that eludes me, the Belleville, IL mansard-a-mansard apartment building. The Bellevegas mansard is like the grail of mansards- one day I shall make the journey to Belleville to seek it in the name of bad architecture glory.

Speaking of art and architecture, thanks to my friend D. who sent me this picture. D. teaches art/architecture at Webster U. When I drive around town pointing a camera at houses and taking pictures, I worry I may get stopped or questioned. Instead of giving the "I write a blog" speech, I am going to lie and say I am in D's class and writing a paper on the mansard style.

Attention!

2010-06-17T23:17:00.002-05:00

Attention Hoosiers, Hipsters, Cardinals Party People. Kilroys, just south of Busch stadium, is a bad mansard. I don't know who patronizes Kilroys and thus my blanket greeting.

The mansard roof also blends into highway 55 in the background and one cannot even really tell where the parking lot starts and patio seating begins.

Un cadeau pour le jour de Peres- A gift for Father's Day. Livres!

2010-06-11T19:06:00.006-05:00

Father Day is coming up. Here are three books you should buy because they were written by friends of badmansard.

The first is the New Dad A=Z by good friend Dan Consiglio with whom John and I go way back - as in skipping Shakespeare at the Rep in Webster to go get drunk at Dan's house on California, circa 1987. click here. New Dad is perfect for, obviously, new dads but also ANY dad- lots of "exactly!" moments. Dan lives in Chicago but loves the Cardinals, which brings us to our next livre.

Second book is by Post Dispatch sports write Derrick Goold. His son is in preschool with my own boy. Lots of talking about Star Wars (between the 4 year olds, not this book). How could a book of 100 Cardinals factoids NOT be perfect for Father's Day? click here

Third book isn't really for dads, but as long as we are talking about books by people I know, we should mention Mei-ling's book. Just came out in paperback. Mei-ling was adopted and tracked down her birth family in Taiwan/China after we left college while she was a reporter with the Post Dispatch. In case you need to know how I know Mei-ling, she was in my sorority and also in the Journalism School at Mizzou with me. click here

So there you go- buy all three books for around $30 and support some good people. Now that I've written of baseball, Webster High School and Dan Consiglio, I'm reminded of Don Mumm, baseball coach and reluctant gym teacher of the laziest group of 11th grade girls at WGHS. He'd get pissed because we wouldn't run, stretch, play or care. Totally awesomest friend in the world Maire Kennedy and I re-worked a Book of Love Song "I touch Roses" intor "I hate gym class." He'd yell "you girls!' but then stick his nose back in his baseball playbook and ignore us. Good times. I've included a picture of the gals from that gym class outside the WGHS Roberts Gym entrance. I'm the bowl cut blond in the middle. Picture from 1987 or 1988.

are you too young to know of Book of Love? here you go - click here

Encore avec les Italiennes!

2010-06-05T01:10:00.005-05:00

Here's another Italian bad mansard on the Hill, un maison d'enterrement !

Hopefully my criticism of the Calcaterra funeral home's roof doesn't get me banned from DiGregorio or get my kid kicked out of the Italian American youth Bocce league. Yep, Bocce. Are you wondering whether my husband or I are Italian and are passing down a family tradition to our daughter? Well, none of that. Audrey plays with a friend and she really likes it. Bocce requires only strategy and the ability to toss a ball with a certain momentum. A group of 7 year old Bocce players can take on kids age 4 or 10 and it can be a pretty well-matched game. And it's a free league.

What is "sud""

2010-05-28T17:44:00.003-05:00

I live in Soulard. I always thought I was on the south side. I was all like, "I am south- sy-eed!" and throw a 63104 gang sign. Just kidding. As it would turn out, Soulard is the near south side. These mansards are tres more sud-side than any neighborhood with which I am familiar.

Top mansard is on Bates near Grand. It's part of a charming-but-awkward- mini-mansard-row of houses.

The second mansard is about the 6000+ block of S. Broadway. Someone correct me: is this the Carondelet Patch neighborhood? I saw it on my way to the Skatium for a Girl Scout rollerskating event. What you can barely see is the dudes chilling by the back door. I need to get back to this stretch of Broadway with a real camera to get a picture of the cute mansard and this awesome laundromat with orange machines (j'adore orange!).

My favorite intersection: Douzième et Treizième

2010-05-17T22:29:00.008-05:00

I love the intersection of 12th and 13th near the Anheuser Busch brewery visitor's center.

1. Where 12th splits off from 13th is a one-of-a-kind stop sign where drivers are instructed they "need not stop" if turning right. I challenge you: is there another sign like this? My challenge to the Streets department: how about a needn't turn right sign. It's also a 3-way.

2. I also would assert the alley between 12th and

13th may be the shortest in St. Louis

3. And these cool Clydesdales live near the intersection of 12th and 13th.

Bad Mansard sur la Currine

2010-05-13T22:11:00.003-05:00

This is on Cliff Cave Road in south county. It also has a funky little mansard addition.

How did I trouve la mansard? We went on a melanoma research walk at Cliff Cave Park (Our MOM foundation).

The morning was a triple win: supported a good cause, had a nice walk and found a bad mansard.

What is French for "crazy guy on PCP turned over the dumpster in the alley"?

2010-05-05T22:54:00.006-05:00

On Monday night I was shuffling around the 1st floor doing my routine- preparing as much as possible for the next day- backpacks, lunches, snacks, dishwasher, cereal bowls, retainer cleaner, dog food, mail, etc. Really the only thing I don't do to make school mornings easier is to have the kids sleep in their uniforms, although I have done that in the winter with shirts. Anyway...

Around 11 pm I hear the dumpster noises. Noises that would suggest the dumpster is being hoisted up into a of St. Louis Refuse Department trash truck. So I says to myself, "maybe it's part of the new trash department budget cuts- run trash trucks at night to save money..."

But the trash trucks don't say "you're a bitch! you're a bitch! Bitch!" Which makes me think some shirtless hoosier is fighting with his beer bellied, chicken legged, chain smoking girlfriend. Which does happen here in the 63104. So I look out the window and for a split second I see a guy with crazy eyes walking by the house. Seconds later, he starts to argue with a guy walking two small fancy dogs. More "you're a bitch!"

And my cat jumps out of the bushes and gets called a bitch too.

Guy-with-dogs sees me in the curtains and tells me to call the police. So I do. I tell describe dumpster guy as "violent" "erratic" and "behaving strangely" and soon many 3rd District police officers are cruising up and down the street.

All the neighbors came out and a debriefing was held. What we know: the dumpster/bitch caller was alone and turned over a dumpster onto my house. The guy with the dogs told him to stop. Dumpster guy called him a bitch and yanked the cell phone from dog-guy and smashed it.

ALthough I did call the police within seconds, I feel like I should have done more. Get a better description of dumpster guy. Go out on the sidewalk and assess the situation. Yell out the window that the police were being called. But like my description suggested, he was erratic and probably on some kind of violent drug so I didn't.

I'm very used to odd-balls walking around this neighborhood and they don't freak me out. This PCP/angel dust dumpster/bitch guy was different. He turned a dumpster over by himself, then called the dumpster, a dog walker and my cat a bitch.

Now the wait begins: how long will my dumpster remain toppled against my house.

The second photo is my street-lawn looking at its best right now. The roses need a serious pruning, but lovely right now.

sept états!

2010-04-27T20:41:00.004-05:00

Badmansard now features bad mansards of seven states- Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Louisiana, California, and now Oregon.

Thanks reader J. for sending this mansard in Corvallis, Oregon. In St. Louis-is-a-small-town fashion, reader J. went to the same grade school as my kids. His sister lives in one of my favorite houses in St. Louis.

Please direct your yeux to some unique badmansard features. The top half of the mansard is quite box-like at almost a perfectly straight line. Also note the gentle flair of the mansard's bottom, the weirdly positioned drainpipes and teeny-tiny windows. The overgrown shrubbery draws unwelcome attention to the top-heavy mansard. And, when was the last time we saw a monochromatic white mansard?

Certainly the rest of you could get me some bad mansard pictures. Especially if you're in Ohio. I suspect there are some really bad mansards in Ohio. Nothing against Ohio. I just think it's cities are much like St. Louis and that therefore there are bad mansards.

Minnesota Twins

2010-04-20T00:14:00.003-05:00

Minnesota Avenue near highway 55 off of Bates.

Two mini-mansards with bizarre vinyl siding additions. It took me FOREVER to track these down. I saw these from highway 55 for more than a year but never could get the car onto Minnesota to take a picture. Finally got it, although I stopped traffic on Minnesota and got some real mean looks from vehicles waiting behind me. Don't mess around with folks at Bates and Minnesota.

Mansard drive-thru banque

2010-04-13T21:48:00.005-05:00

At what point does this mansard freak us out? When do we collectively cry "Pourquoi? what the f. is that?"

Perhaps it is an unwanted result of my success, but I like to think I've featured so many bad mansards that the reader really won't be shocked by any mansard. I like to think I've shown you everything. Recently I've even wondered if I was *gulp* running out of material.

And then I find this gem in my email in-box sent by Dan Consiglio from Chicago to my husband and forwarded to me, passed tenderly like a JPEG baton from runner to runner.

I think badmansard has conditioned us to expect such badmansardness from a bank and even a drive-through. But, holy mother of the mansard, WHY is there a window in the drive-through mansard? Dan thought change-counting trolls resided above the drive through. A youth hostel? The bank's safe?

Thanks again Dan. You're awesome and so is your BOOK (click here).

How about the rest of you? I have friends all over the country. Won't someone from outside of St. Louis and Chicago PLEASE send me a bad mansard? It's the only way I can top this monster (*note- there is an apartment building in Belleville rumored to be a mansard-upon-mansard mid-century modern.)