Still for sale

These mansards have been on the real estate market for quite some time.  I featured the Brentwood Boulevard and Big Bend buildings in 2009 and again in 2009.

That's an improvement

 Last week I did a little self improvement.  I took care of some doctors' appointments.  Got my hair cut and told my stylist to go blonder with the highlights.  Used my vision insurance to buy some new glasses and wound up selecting purple cat eyed frames.  Learned to shoot a gun.

As I left the vision center I saw one of my favorite mansard apartment buildings in Webster Groves has a bit of an upgrayedd.*  Looks likes a newly renovated luxury apartment with a new bad mansard roof!

*points if you can name the "upgrayedd" movie.

The Grove

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.

Bad mansard de futbal

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.

Let's pause for a Lustron

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.

Iconic St. Louis institutions with bad mansards

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."

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

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

Trois random photographs

Top to bottom:

Amish or Mennonite at the Archgrounds. That wasn't their kid. The woman on the left is wearing Crocs.

Frightening bulk trash vignette in Webster Groves. The sign indicates the washer still works but for a broken belt. Ok, fine. But I really need a sign to explain why the two freaky black eyed babies are sitting atop the washer waving at passers-by.

On the bottom is a lovely yard on Flora at the corner of Klemm. LOVE IT. That yard is always well-kept and this tulip display is perfect each year. Tulips usually crap our after a year or two so I suspect the owners replant the bulbs each fall.

Centre de jeunesse de Lutheran de Webster Groves

You know those Webster people (like me) think Watson Road is anchored by Crestwood Mall and Ted Drews. Nevermind Watson switches to Chippewa around the city limits. To Webster folk, Ted drews in ON Watson.

This facilité est west of Elm on Watson and est commandité by Hardees. It, perhaps obviously, used to be Hardees. See the drive through? I also think it used to be a bank.

Hardees closed the store and kindly gave it to the Lutherans of Webster who made it a youth center. That was nice of them. May the Lutheran youth of Webster continue to gather in this bad mansard.

Aujourd'hui

Today I ran a bunch of errands and I was determined to find a new residential mansard. I took new routes and turned on some unfamiliar streets.

Found it! Off Laclede Station in Webster on Yale Avenue.

The best thing about this mansard is that it is by my friend J's house and she invited Gus over for a playdate. A treasure of a mansard, a treasure of a friend.

Pardon moi

Sorry it's been a while since the last mal mansard.  Here's one on Brentwood Boulevard between Manchester and the Bi-State terminal.I took this picture after a long rain, but that doesn't explain why the back of the roof looks burned.

Where have I been?  My 20 year high school reunion was this past weekend.  Oui!  Vingt ans!  I graduated on 6-7-89 from Webster Groves High School.

As part of the reunion I hosted a party/fundraiser for a slain city police officer Bobby Stanze.  He was shot and killed back in 2000.  He too was a WGHS Class of 1989 graduate.  People paid to come here to the house for free food and beer.  We are giving the money we raised to the Friends of Bob Stanze- read about the foundation here.  

The fundraiser event was a success and the weekend reunion activities were a blast.  I went to high school with a lot of terrific, generous people.  

Mansard pour les dents

Webster Groves- shame on you.  This is tres mal.  And this is a recent 'development.'  Dieu only knows what got knocked down or what is under that mansard d'ugly.  Seems like every dentist's office is in a bad mansard, but those are all 1960's-1970's vintage mansard.  This is a crappy knock-off bad mansard.

Next Community Days parade I'm protesting.

tres mal mansard (photo avec nouveau i-phone)

Bonjour mes amies.  Where to start criticizing this Big Bend delight?

• cinder door entry
• blocked windows
• copper awning- surprisingly un-stollen

We used John's new 3GS to take the picture.  It's a great phone with a video camera (!) - easy to use and takes nice video.  Look forward to some future bad mansard video posts.  

Just like Cinderella said...

At Reavis and Glendale Road in Webster Groves.  Webster is slowly losing its stock of 1960's mansards with the redevelopment trend of "pop the top off."  Homeowners looking to enhance the appearance and increase the size of their homes build up.  A single story becomes a two-story.  A bad mansard is removed and something pleasing added in its stead.  

Fortunately, this mansard is intact.  A house to the west on Glendale rocked a bad mansard until recently when the roof was severed and replaced with some faux cottage looking roof (the former Ruddy/Ralph Beuc house to all you statespeople).  Just like the lyrics of a fine Cinderella anthem so often echoed in WGHS's hallowed halls, "don't know what you've got until it's gone..."  I am going to stop picking on poor Webster now.  Back to the city! 

Signage de Mansard

A mansard sign. Because the sign needs a roof that large over it.

Also weird because the Gerber Chapel building is one of Webster's important historical buildings. It was built in 1865 as the Nathan Allen Home. I believe it is the same "ALLEN" that plotted Soulard and thus Allen Street.

The front of the building is not mansard style but a simple Victorian Vernacular style. Greek columns were added later. Yuck. The real party starts in the back of the building with a shingle/mansard funeral carport. A total botch of Victorian, Greek Revival and 1970's Mansard. Upon reflection, i should have taken some pictures of the front so readers could enjoy the mullett-ness of Gerber Chapel.

Rien! No good mansards in Webster Groves.

It should be disclaimed my husband and I both grew up in Webster so that makes us experts in its architecture.  I feel confident stating there are no good mansards in WG.  100% of Webster's mansards are tres mal.  Here is one to get us started at the intersection of Gray and the BNSF tracks.  

Fellow statespeople:  If you know of a good mansard in Webster, I'd love to see it.  I'm going to drive through Webster Park and look- I think there are a couple back there.  

Kirkwood Mansard with Greek columns (of course)

Check out this big, stupid, ugly mansard in Kirkwood on Kirkwood Road (aka Lindbergh Road).  Of course it's stupid and ugly- it's in Kirkwood!  Webster High School class of 1989 rocks!  (this is in jest- I sadly lacked all forms of school spirit or municipal pride).  So anyway, this is a big ugly bank in the middle of a parking lot with a dumb, oversized mansard.  Love the faux Greek columns.  Oh, didn't you know that Greek columns, mansard rooflines and barberry bushes were all the rage in Second Empire France?  

Near the intersection of "Bad" and "Mansard"

Here are two commercial mansards at the intersection of Big Bend and Shrewsbury. Not sure if these are technically the municipality Webster or Shrewsbury.  Two bad mansards at one intersection!  The purple building is the former restaurant Zinnia's, which had pretty decent food but recently closed.  I think the owner was tired of running a restaurant.  I think the career of restauranteer would indeed suck the life out of you.  

The combination purple paint/bad mansard was almost chic in the 1980's when Zinnia's opened.  In the 1990's it was quirky.  By the 2000's, the paint was faded, the mansard was shabby and Zinnia had lost its buzz.   The combination of the purple/bad mansard was old and sad, much like an 38 year old chubby girl lifting her shirt at Mardi Gras.

No idea what the other bad mansard houses- a music place?  It's been there forever.  I passed it a thousand times driving up Big Bend on my way to Deer Creek Liquor ("bottle of Dimitrov vodka please") and Naugle's ("hey guys, after the show we're all going to Naugles").  Deer Creek is closed, no one makes Dimitrov and I think Naugles is a Quizno's or something.  I am so old.  Just like the purple mansard, but come Mardi Gras I get the hell out of Soulard and I'll lift my shirt for no one.