Hello from The Onion House!
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 7:41 pm
Hi there! I just stumbled upon this site, and am glad I did! My boyfriend and I have bought an old home in the Oak Hill Historic District in St. Louis, MO and we have been *slowly* chipping away at restoring it. It's been really fun to find out about the history of it - which I am happy to share.
It was built in 1892 by Gerhard Ludewig, a German immigrant and cabinet maker, who moved here with his family in the late 1880s from Bremen, Germany. The land in which it sits on belonged to the Russel Coal Mines in Tower Grove Park. The home itself looks to have Moorish Revival influence, as seen from the onion and ogee shaped domes on the house. For the past few decades, it has been nicknamed "The Onion House" by the community because of the large onion tower that sits on the second floor. The house has a lot of old character, as you can imagine, but has not been treated so kindly over the last half century. Its original wood siding and ornamentation (seen from the original photo) is covered by a synthetic shingle that is falling apart. The balconies on the second floor have been closed in - very poorly. A lot of the exterior needs to be refinished, and hopefully brought back to the beauty it once held. It has a full attic (mansard roof, with 3 gable dormer windows) and full basement, sitting on a limestone foundation. The original grand stair has been removed, and the staircase leading to the second floor unit is the old servants back stair, I believe.
Perhaps one of the more unique aspects of the house is the rear wing of the main building, which we believe to be original because it is showing on the 1903 Sanborn maps. In some independent research, I am thinking this was the original kitchen for the home, because of the layout and there was 2 chimney / stoves and connected by a doorway to what is now the kitchen. There is also a below grade concrete room beneath it, thinking that was a root cellar. On top of this wing, was a roof walk that led to an overlook - which is also deteriorating and we are removing.
It no longer is a "mansion", it has been divided into a 3 family home. We hope to eventually bring it back into a single dwelling but because of time and money, we are going to renovate them separately and live/rent the units.
I am not a historian by any means, so I would love to post photos and hear any history behind any of it. We are falling in love with this house, and are excited to bring it back to its original character and tell its story to the neighborhood.
Thanks for reading! Excited to be part of this community
It was built in 1892 by Gerhard Ludewig, a German immigrant and cabinet maker, who moved here with his family in the late 1880s from Bremen, Germany. The land in which it sits on belonged to the Russel Coal Mines in Tower Grove Park. The home itself looks to have Moorish Revival influence, as seen from the onion and ogee shaped domes on the house. For the past few decades, it has been nicknamed "The Onion House" by the community because of the large onion tower that sits on the second floor. The house has a lot of old character, as you can imagine, but has not been treated so kindly over the last half century. Its original wood siding and ornamentation (seen from the original photo) is covered by a synthetic shingle that is falling apart. The balconies on the second floor have been closed in - very poorly. A lot of the exterior needs to be refinished, and hopefully brought back to the beauty it once held. It has a full attic (mansard roof, with 3 gable dormer windows) and full basement, sitting on a limestone foundation. The original grand stair has been removed, and the staircase leading to the second floor unit is the old servants back stair, I believe.
Perhaps one of the more unique aspects of the house is the rear wing of the main building, which we believe to be original because it is showing on the 1903 Sanborn maps. In some independent research, I am thinking this was the original kitchen for the home, because of the layout and there was 2 chimney / stoves and connected by a doorway to what is now the kitchen. There is also a below grade concrete room beneath it, thinking that was a root cellar. On top of this wing, was a roof walk that led to an overlook - which is also deteriorating and we are removing.
It no longer is a "mansion", it has been divided into a 3 family home. We hope to eventually bring it back into a single dwelling but because of time and money, we are going to renovate them separately and live/rent the units.
I am not a historian by any means, so I would love to post photos and hear any history behind any of it. We are falling in love with this house, and are excited to bring it back to its original character and tell its story to the neighborhood.
Thanks for reading! Excited to be part of this community
