In the 1900s, a covey of railroad magnates ordered up palatial homes on Portland Place. Here’s one.
By Christy Marshall
The front of the house lacks one defining characteristic: a door. To gain entry into this 1908 Tudor-Revival classic, you must step to the side to the hand-carved limestone arches at the porte-cochère.
There are shabbier ways to slip inside.
Designed by Mauran, Russell and Garden, the house was originally built for railroad executive William Evans Guy and his wife Katherine. Through the past century, the nearly 9,000-square-foot three-story house has retained remants of its singular splendor. “It’s an amazingly original house,” says Kevin Hurley of Edward L. Bakewell. “Some of those homes are lucky. People didn’t do anything to them.”
The leaded windows are still intact; the quarter-sawn oak paneling in the entry hall and dining and living rooms is pristine, as is the copper sink in the butler’s pantry, the hardware on the doors, the lighting fixtures in the rooms.
Then the 20th century enters. The most recent owners (the sixth since the Guys) enlarged the kitchen and added hardwood floors, granite countertops, room for eight to eat and a hearth room. “They took several small unusable rooms and opened them up to make it one nice big space with the butler’s pantry,” Hurley says. “That’s one of the house’s nicest featues—it’s very livable.”
The listing quotes six bedrooms, although originally there were nine. The third floor is bright (with 10-foot ceilings) and holds a playroom (with a fireplace, built-in bookcases and original windowseats), billiards room, and two guest bedrooms (one has its own balcony). The master suite, three other bedrooms, library and dressing area (with yet more built-ins) are located on the second floor.
But it’s the flourishes that beam you back to the home’s turn-of-the-century days of glory. Seven fireplaces; a staircase that would work well for a wedding or a decent portion of the Saint Louis Symphony; a built-in china cabinet with leaded doors; a solarium; a slate roof; cooper gutters—all are details that would make a train tycoon proud.
address:
10 Portland Place
St. Louis
asking price:
$1,300,000
agents:
James Human, Kevin Hurley
Edward L. Bakewell
314-721-5555, www.bakewellinc.com
