Thirty or so years ago when people were moving away from the downtown area, many of the beautiful mini-mansions were left behind - only to be bought up by slum lords and turned into multi-family housing. Luckily, with the establishment of the historic districts people can no longer convert single family homes to multi-family units. However, many of these converted buildings still exist just begging for someone to return them to their original grandeur.
These are some that are within one or two blocks of N. Jackson.
I'm not sure which, but one of the buildings below was the homestead of Pierre Laclede's niece. Sadly, the legacy is lost.
I love this building. With it's shutters it reminds me of New Orleans or Charleston. Too bad the landlord (yes, people live in this ruin) doesn't keep up with repairs.
These buildings below probably were built as multi-family units, but have seen tremendous neglect. There has been quite a lot of renovation on this street, and the first two buildings are for sale by owner.
I love the style of the first house under the section of original duplexes. We looked at one on Charles Street that had been converted into a single-family. Absolutely gorgeous house, and it was a serious contender for about 10 minutes. Then we saw the foundation. Total mess designed for optimal basement leakage. It had most likely done some major shifting over the decades, probably mine-related.
ReplyDelete