An evening in 63104's best mansard

Last weekend we had a fabulous dinner at the Magic Chef Mansion, the mother of all mansards in St. Louis.  Back up 7 months to April at our school auction.  A group of five couples agreed to bid on an evening of dinner and drinks at the Magic Chef Mansion.  Another group of school parents would be putting on the event by donating their "time, talent and treasure" to cook, decorate and serve an amazing meal.

We set a budget for our maximum bid.  The budget was blown about five bids in.  The final purchase price was such a large amount for a school auction bid that I needed an installment plan to pay for our share.

And yet after the meal I kind of feel like we didn't pay enough for the meal.  Amazing.  Fabulous.  We had beer and wine paired with each course and then voted on the winner.  See below for the results which show the awesomeness of the meal and the boozy expertise of our school parents.  Scallops, Oysters, Chateaubriand, Lobster, Cheeses.  Stuff I'd be too cheap or scared to order off a restaurant menu.

My moment of pride came when we were getting a tour of the mansion.  The gracious owner said the word "mansard" and the room when silent and everyone looked at me.  Can you say proud?  I was.

Course #1 - went to the wine pairing Chablis with oysters

Course #2 - beer was the victor with the black pumpkin ale

Course #3 - Riesling paired nicely with our lovely salad

Course #4 - a bit of an upset, but the lobster paired with Hefe Weizen received more votes than the cabernet with the chataebriand

Course #5 - it was a tie between the Chimay and the port wine paired with the brioche bread pudding.

Straight outta Compton- 3

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).

Straight outta Compton- 2

A Compton Heights lovely.  My novice impression of the architectural style:  Richardsonian (stone front) meets Spanish  (tile roof) meets 2nd Empires (mansard roof).   One day people- 63104mom will pack up the badmansard husband and children and move to Compton Heights.  I wouldn't even have change my 63104mom handle.

Straight outta Compton

This mansard makes me drool.  It's on Hawthorne in Compton Heights and combines two of my favorite elements-- Compton Heights and mansard roof.  I think Compton Heights is the most beautiful neighborhood in St. Louis city.  Don't get me wrong- Lafayette Square and the Central West End are lovely architectural gems.  Compton Heights, however, is where I dream of living one day.  I love the houses, the people, the wide streets and the fact I wouldn't have to change zip codes if I moved there.