Hannibal

 Tuesday I found myself driving to Hannibal without my good Mother's Day camera.  Drat. My boss asked, "hey, can you go to Hannibal today?  The case is set at 11 and I know it's 8:30 am and it's a 2 hour 15 minute drive, but could you handle it anyway?"  I wasn't worried about preparing for the case.  Rather, I was all "Hannibal has a TON of bad mansards and I am not going to have my good camera."

So if Huck Finn needed his teeth cleaned or a payday loan, he would have gone to these two bad mansards.

Le porche grec est erroné

That porch and the Greek columns are all wrong on the 2nd Empire Victorian. This is another from Hannibal. The house itself is handsome though.

In other news, I am completely OUT of mansard material. I need to do a bad mansard photo shoot this weekend. There's a beast on Minnesota near Bates and some ugly bars near Busch Stadium.

Cosmetic Makeovers, Hannibal Edition

Today's mansard looks pretty good until you look closely- some windows are boarded and tuckpointing is desperately needed. I've written extensively about the sad state of Hannibal's historic district. There just don't appear to be enough folks in Hannibal who appreciate historic housing who have the money to rehab Hannibals' incredible housing stock.

Who's the chic? That's the new Bravo Housewife of Orange County, Alexis. Click here if you want to dumb yourself down and read more about the Real Housewives (I admit I watch). Alexis grew up in Hannibal. Clearly she's had some work done (giant boobies!). Wouldn't it be nice if as much rehab went on in her hometown.

sad? bad? mad?

Another from the Lost Mansards of Downtown Hannibal series.  Is that permastone on the facade?  I suspect there's a cute little house hidden under there.  

So I was talking to some Hannibal folks about the struggling state of its historic housing.  My sources tell me there just aren't enough people with the money and good taste to properly rehab downtown Hannibal.  To which I blurted out, "don't you have any gay guys?"   Evidently not.  

I told my source not to lose hope in beautiful little Hannibal.  St. Louis almost gave up on Soulard and Lafayette Square 35 years ago.  Look at these neighborhoods now, rehabbed one sad mansard at a time.  

Mansard mullet

Definitely business in the front, mansard mullet party in the back.  

Mansard d'avocat

This mansard is in downtown Hannibal.  It was a single family home rehabbed into a law office.  I took a deposition here once:  the witness was an aggressive hypochondriac accident faker.  

Depressing Hannibal Mansard

Hey St. Louis- you think you have problems with your old buildings going to hell? Go to Hannibal and prepare to be say "pour quoi." This is Hannibal's former federal building. Lovely cresting, tower and mansard. Built in the 1880's in the 2nd Empire Style and designed by Mifflin Bell. Read its application for National Register of Historic Places here.

This building has been mostly empty since a new federal facility was built. The courtrooms are still intact and evidently you can get a tour if you ask the right people. And, the bottom of the building is what every historic sight should have- a tacky bar. The Down Under Lounge, where according to the cheap signage, you can got to taco OR pasta night and drink some Baccardi rum.

I love Hannibal. It's a nice town with lovely buildings. Someone please help this mansard.

I would like to point out Hannibal's regular courthouse was renovated about 7 years ago and it is drop dead gorgeous. I'm not sure of the exact date of remodeling, but I do remember the dockets were moved to the courthouse in Palmyra where cell phone coverage was so spotty that I had to use the payphone on the corner. I must have looked like Palmyra's only prostitute hanging out on the corner making phone calls.

This is the dome of the Hannibal courthouse. Locals tell me the dome was covered by a drop ceiling and was relatively intact when remodeling started.

Last random thought: the Hannibal courthouse is one of the cleanest in the state. Also, it is one of the few courthouses with a ladies lounge in the bathroom with electrical outlets (in case your carrying a Medela Pump in Style).