Bad Mansard Flad Snowman

Revisiting a mansard on Flad Avenue on the Shaw neighborhood.  Notice the snowman greeting you as if to say, "welcome to a pair of badmansards."

Hoping we are saying goodbye to winter and welcoming some permanent spring weather this weekend.

A little bit of China in Scotland

Going to school in the Shaw neighborhood can certainly be a challenge at times.  There's a lot of riff raff in the neighborhood.  And I say that coming from Soulard.  Take car cloutings.  When Kay was in pre school someone broke the window of her friend Caroline's car and stole a dance bag with a size 6 leotard.  Neighborhood kids lit our playground climber on fire and routinely write horribly graphic bad words all over the inside of the slide.  At a school auction a car was stolen off one of the side streets.  Imagine that.  Walking out of a school auction with your winnings and not being able to find your car because some punk stole it (ever since then we have hired an off duty police officer for night social activities).

But there are perks too.  It's an academically strong, diverse and caring school.  The students walk frequently to Tower Grove Park and the Botanical Gardens.  The parents are fun, smart and volunteer their talents.    We always have connections to free beer through Schlafly or AB.

The Botanical Garden is also in the Shaw neighborhood.  So when the Chinese Lantern Festival ended we got this pagoda house and a bunch of other cool garden sculpture.  Thanks MOBOT!

Flora place

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.

Badmansard takes the Brownies to Old North

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.

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.

Certainly there is a mot Allemand

I suspect there is a German word for "multifamily unit I see everyday but never noticed its bad mansard top."  Or a yiddish word.  

This is on Castleman and I've been driving past it almost daily for six years.  Just now noticed its top.  And its bonus mansarded entry vestibule.  

Mon ami P.A.K.'s house

Continuing our series on mansards that make me happy, this is the maison of my friend P.  in the Shaw neighborhood.  Of note, the eastern blocks in Shaw tend to have the older houses and therefore may have a smattering of 2nd Empire or Queen Anne Victorians.   

P. and I both started out in Lafayette Square and moved around the same time- me to Soulard and she to Shaw.  Which is ironic because her kids go to school in Soulard and my kids go to school in Shaw.   

ce qui est ceci? En anglais: WTF?

I've been staring at this one for a while.  What is it?  Does it even qualify as a mansard?  This recently constructed 2-family is on Flad near Klemm and its owners live in Chicago.  

As best I can tell, it's like a concrete pre-form mansard.  Here's what I hate about it in no particular order:  

• roof
• stairs
• balcony
• where are the curtains?
• hate the windows
• shrimpy immature landscaping
• putty color
• no window sills
• doors- brown, ugly, teeny tiny window with teeny, tiny light fixtures

Say, that reminds me- when you live in these Big Old House Neighborhoods (BOHN's), please adjust your landscaping, lighting, pots, etc to scale!  Otherwise your accessories get swallowed up.

Flad is French for bad mansard, Pt. 1

I could say a lot, but I won't.  Even though I hate the mansard roof, someone spent good money to live in St. Louis city and now calls this mansard home; for that reason I must show respect.  Here's what I'd say to the homeowner at a hypothetical cocktail party:

"They mansard is a little awkward with the turret.  I wish the foundation weren't poured concrete; it would be nice if it were masonry like the rest of Shaw. Wow- that's an interesting bay window."

The concrete bunker mansard to the left is a 2-family with an out of town landlord, so we'll be mansard snarky (word blend= mansnarky) on Flad later.

J'adore!

I love this sweet little mini-Mansard on Flora Place in Shaw. Tres chic. Mansards aren't that prevalent in Shaw. True, there are some period faux-sards (buildings with a 'cap' on them to resemble a mansard) and one super bad infill mansard we'll see tomorrow. But not many mansards as cute as this: Excellent proportion, nice colors and well-executed landscaping. Perfect little empty nest house. I would love to live there in 2035 when I am 65 and ready to retire. I'll hobble to mass at St. Margaret's and work in the Shaw/Flora Place garden club.

My kids were ready to move to Flora Place yesterday. They would love to be closer to their school, their friends and have the wonderful green space for playing. I love our house now; not sure I'd ever move. If I did, I've got my eye on this house, also on Flora Place.

I case you were wondering, I have 4 St. Louis dream streets: Flora Place, Shaw Place, Hawthorne, and Longfellow.