TGS Lustron House

A long lost friend moved back to St. Louis some years ago and prior to landing bought a Lustron house sight unseen.
While I've photographed Lustron's from the outside, this was my first visit to an interior.

Pocket doors, enameled steel panels, and steel tiles on the roof. Most of the Lustron's consisted of 10 tons of steel and Bill (owner of this beauty) told me a truck was specifically constructed to haul the pieces to site. The interior is entirely made of steel and the panels were bolted together.



Living room with Majestic Lamps:

Steel ceiling:





Closets:

Bedroom:


Bathroom:

Dining room into kitchen:




Pocket door:



Pale yellow exterior, roof with steel tiles, chimney.


Across the street sits another Lustron:

3460 Oak Hill

Sam Meller's work on 3460 Oak Hill in TGS is moving forward:

Welded iron 'fence' on top of the building was recently added:

Sam said this original front railing had been damaged. It had been removed and placed inside the building and recently was reinstalled.

Walkway laid:

The parking pads are finished:

Sam Meller and his restored Mercury Cougar:

Bettie Page

A few days ago I met Marilyn who told me she had recently restored a 1951 Spartan Trailer.
The model is a Royal Mansion and the shell is aluminium that Marilyn had professionally polished to near mint condition.
I begged for an invite. I pulled on my hair. I bribed her with vintage crochet pieces that I knew would match Bettie's interior. I considered making demands or crying on the phone when she emailed and graciously allowed me to visit Bettie today.

Bettie is road ready and leaving for a warmer climate in two weeks.



The living room:


It's tragic that I didn't notice the glare across Bettie Page's backside (below) and no, I didn't censor the image.
I can see Marilyn's face in the reflection.
Marilyn named her trailer after Bettie Page. If your the only person in the world who doesn't know who Bettie Page was click on the title.
Marilyn told me she search images on Bettie Page and settles on this one because it resonates with the lamp to the left of the photo.


The honey golden interior wood is Birch:

Inside the front door (there's a back door also off the bedroom):

The kitchen:


Marilyn told me the fabric on the booths is original:

Chartreuse Melmac. Yours truly has a matching set.



The bedroom. Complete with vintage chenille spreads:



The bathroom is also the shower with a drain in the floor and two shower heads:

STL explorer

This comment just came through and I didn't want it to be buried on an old post. Thanks so very much for contacting me.

I am a huge sidewalk marker fan. I have a pretty decent collection of markers from all over the city, and sometimes post about them on my blog.
http://stlexplorer.wordpress.com/tag/sidewalk-markers/

My photos from St. Louis are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pasa/sets/72157627541089388/

And from all over the country here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pasa/sets/72157627265958809/map/

The Fix

Steve Smith of The Royale gluing a chair. The grilled chicken salad was ever so tasty.

Laced columns, riveted

Downtown St. Louis.
Laced columns are sexy, you know they are.


Eads Bridge:

Tension Member

A few weeks ago I was sitting in a Doctor's waiting room looking at a magazine when I noticed an article about the book my friends were praising: American City: St. Louis Architecture: Three Centuries of Design (click on the tile) and noticed the photographer was William ZBaren, an old friend I haven't see since my 20s. I emailed him through his web site and learned he was visiting St. Louis last week and I met with Bill and his partner, Robert Sharoff, for dinner.

I mentioned to Bill that it was serendipitous that we had both lived on Flad Ave. Flad was Eads chief engineer on the bridge and Bill, knowing my appreciation of the bridge, gave me a print of his photo.
I grinned the entire drive home.

***

Yesterday I drove down to the river just to focus on the eyebars (tension members) on the bridge:

Ohio and Utah

I strolled the 26 and 2700 blocks of Utah today.




Narrow:


Listing Houses and Chimney:





For Chris over at St. Louis Patina:

Marble staircase:

Fleur-de-lis anchor plate and an elevation designed to enclose the original copper downspout:



Decorative anchor plates or wall washers:

TGS Architecture Walking Tour

I'm hosting a TGS Architecture Walking Tour on Sunday, Sept 18. The tour will begin at Utah and Grand and will be lead by Architect, David Lott. David has volunteered to conduct two tours, one at 1PM, the next at 3PM.

The tours are a fundraiser for the TGS Block Captain Fund and the donation is 10.00 per person.

Please save the date and join us for an hour long walk through TGS and learn about our historic built environment.

Interview with Writer Peter Plate

Click on the title to read an interview I did in 1986 with then emerging writer, Peter Plate.