Vert

Benton Park mini green giant.  I found the photo of this gem buried in my iphoto.  I think I was saving it for Christmas and forgot about it.

Sorry I've been a little slow to post lately.  If you're a fan and want to know what's been going on in my life, check out my 63104mom tumblr.  The link is to the right.  I try to update it every day with pics, quotes and opinion.

Finally, could someone please tell me how to re-size the header picture?  I know it's too large but I can't figure out how to downsize it.  If you're saying to yourself, "isn't badmansard's husband an award winning designer?  Couldn't he do it?" the answer would be I haven't asked him.  Every time he sits down at by macbook he loses his mind. "Why haven't you updated your operating system?  How come there are 102 items on your desktop ?  It's a mess.  You're keyboard is filthy.  What's with the bad typeface on badmasansard?  The kerning is terrible!  Oh my god. Do you know what color correction is?  What, did you take this picture with one of the kids' cameras?  It lacks depth."  And his number one complaint, "You cannot leave this many applications open."  So I guess I'm too scared to ask him =)

Hot mansard

It's hot here in St. Louis.  94 degree high today.  It was sunny with a nice breeze and seemingly low humidity.  All makes for a great Memorial Day weekend.  Perfect for hitting the pool.  

I hope this Benton Park mini-mansard has a better way of staying cool than the screens and teeny-tiny box fan.  All-brick houses in this heat are like pizza ovens and give off heat even after it cools down.  To test the effect, try walking by the brick wall on Broadway near the Anheuser Busch brewery.  It jumps about 10 degrees near the brick wall on a cool night.  

Benton Park évasion de feu

That's Benton Park fire escape. This neglected but lovely friend sits on Utah in the southern part of Benton Park. You can barely see its facade due to the fire escape, brick veneer, grates, bad door, plywood and overgrown vines (are those trumpet vine? euonymus? it doesn't look like ivy).

It's for sale and evidently this place is so bad it takes 4 realtors* to try to move the place.

It does have great potential so I hope it finds a buyer.

*spell check wants me to capitalize realtor. Tell you what- I'll capitalize realtor once we start capitalizing other relevant professions like Art Director, Lawyer, Police Officer and Garbage Collector.

I dunno

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.

How hoosiers do a mansard

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.

What up shortie?

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.

Mon coeur est triste

My heart is sad. So much is wrong here- roofing material, windows, meter by the door, paneling, Home Depot door, etc.

2511 Salena in Benton Park must be part of another property because the address does not show up in the Assessor's data base.

Looks like copper around the top. At least it hasn't been stolen.

Sidney Street shout-out #2

Here's another great mansard on Sidney.  Mark my words:  Sidney will soon have the same hip factor as McPherson in the CWE or Park Avenue in Lafayette Square.  Sidney goes from the Mississippi River and dead ends at Grand.  Its best parts straddle Soulard and Benton Park.

This storefront recently won an award for its excellent rehab.  I think it's great:  the cute little storefront, the french blue and yellow, etc. 

The problem with Sidney:  a bunch of crap rental absentee owners plaguing Sidney between 12th and 13th.  More on that later.  I'm being positive this week.  

petit. GRAND!

Little and big 2nd Empire neighbors in Benton Park.

Quelque fuc?

For the love of Dieu, how does this monstrosity share a zip code with Lafayette Square and Soulard?  This is new construction- as in someone planned this 'design' recently.

Ironic, isn't it?  The strict historical code around here prohibits me from using certain windows or having an air conditioner visible from the street, yet someone at City Hall said, "oh, yeah, sure, build this house."  I am pretty sure that is an AC unit hanging out of the window.  Also wrong:  Handrails?  Brick veneer?  Front door?  Foundation?

If memory serves (I sound like the chairman in Iron Chef Japan), this yahoos that built this are doing other 'projects' in the area.  

Vert!

Isn't this green little mansard in Benton Park cute? The door jamb and rear view mirror belong to my Sienna van.  The kids are so sick of me slowing down, opening the window and taking a picture of a mansard.  "Mom!  That is so dorky!  Stop!  Why do you keep taking pictures of houses?"

Well kids, that's how I amuse myself:  Mansards, and the snarky faux-French comments I write.  I guess it's better than drinking, drugging, gambling or compulsive shopping.  

5 mile Paques Vigil Run

This is one of my favorite runs.  Very nice this evening- all the churches were readying for Easter Vigil.  Here are directions in case you want to recreate my "Big Ass Beautiful Church Run."  Only in St. Louis can you run by 7 Catholic churches in 5 miles.  And I could have hit more with St. Raymonds and St. Mary of Victories (that's a 6 mile run).  Start somewhere on 12th Street and Soulard and run north.

St. Joseph Croatian at 12th and Russell.  We love our Croatian friends.  Merge onto Tucker.

St. John Nepomuk.  We love Czechs too!  Turn right on Park.

St. Vincent de Paul.   Check out VIncentian Press for your religious goods needs. Run behind the church to the foot bridge that takes you back into Soulard behind the Farmers' Market.  You'll see Trinity Lutheran (baptismal font below) and Sts. Peter and Paul on 8th.  Trinity and Peter/Paul join to operate a homeless soup kitchen and shelter.  Peter/Paul is my secondary parish.  Wonderful people, but they struggle with membership.  My idea?  The place is HUGE and very German in history.  How about a kindermass on Saturdays?  Just an idea.  My parish is so crammed with kids it would be nice to share our fortune with a struggling parish.  Back to the run...

Continue South on 8th to Utah near the brewery, turn right on Utah to St. Agatha's.  It's now the Polish parish until St. Stan's can be straightened out.  It used to be Latin until that was moved to St. Francis de Sales.  I liked it better at St. Agatha's- it was more, dare, I say, approachable.  I have no idea where the Coleman BBQ pit came from.  From St. Agatha, get to Arsenal near the brewery and take it all the way into Benton Park to St. Francis de Sales, now Latin, used to be Hispanic.  Tower is leaning and needs repair.  

From St. Francis de Sales, turn right on Jefferson to Sidney.  Make a right on Sidney past St. Agnes (no longer in use, closed some time in late 80's/early 90's).  Could someone PLEASE rehab St. Agnes into a house or lofts?  It's been empty for so long and it is sad.

Sidney Street shout-out

Sometimes a mansard gets it right. This house on Sidney gets it so right that it deserves a special, "if you re-do your mansard, do it like this." The mansard was recently redone and it looks wonderful- tile colors, pattern, paint. This house is wedged between my friend Annie K. and Niche Restaurant.

I love Sidney Street, which straddles Soulard and Benton Park. It's a culinary destination- Niche, Sidney Street Cafe and Trueman's. Ok, I've never had the food at Trueman's but it attracts a lot of cops which means it probably has good food. I've been told Niche, SSC and Trueman's are all well-behaved neighbors and they keep the Sidney lively. On the Soulard side, there's Big Daddy's and Cat's Meow, which are slightly more boisterous.

Sidney is also historically relevant as the original corridor of numerous breweries and beer baron houses, many of which include an subterranean root cellar under actual Sidney Street. In case you're wondering about my house and beer/root cellar, I don't live on Sidney but I'm very close.

One of my first city hang-outs, circa 1988, was an apartment on Sidney very close to Sidney Street Cafe (SSC). My high school friend Joe D. lived on his own at age 17. Needless to say, it became a haven for underaged drinking. In retrospect, wow, how lucky were we to have our own boozy flophouse as high school seniors.

The street was very unpolished at the time; SSC was one of the few highlights. The street had a few pioneers working to rehab their places, but it was very early for budding Benton Park. Fast forward 21 years: I push my stroller down Sidney and chuckle at the progress the neighborhood and I have made together as a team. Just like I don't sneak into bars, get drunk and pass out in apartments anymore, Sidney is respectable, mature and a responsible drinker.

Tres petit

Benton Park has many of these enfant mansards, especially along Lemp Street.  I don't know why they're only 2/3 the size of a regular 2nd Empire.  I've heard that the small stature permitted the homeowner to show off a mansard roof line without the expense of a larger house.  

These and Lustron homes are my "isn't that a cute little house?  I'd like the pluck that up and put it in my pocket!"   I ordinarily like houses that are the architectural equivalent of the nickname assigned to my husband by his college friends:  the Big American Giant.  

Brewers and Mansards

This is a good picture. My 3 yo son G. is in the forefront pulling a sled. That's a serious mansard behind him, the home of Max Feuerbacher, proprietor of the Green Tree Brewery. The smoke in the background is steam from the Anheuser-Busch brewery. Learn more about Feuerbacher and his brewery here.