Sarah Riley and Rob Monzyk weren’t looking for the perfect house. They also weren’t expecting to fall in love with a 116-year-old American Foursquare with a sagging first floor and daylight streaming through holes in the roof.
“We joke that it was a pile of bricks,” says Monzyk, a 40-year-old health care data scientist.
In 2019, the couple purchased the Central West End home from a local flipper who stopped working on it long before the project was finished, leaving it without electricity and running water, plus a host of other problems. Later that year, as the couple began their renovation, they uncovered more structural issues, prompting them to marvel that the house was still standing. Undeterred, they forged ahead, committed to ensuring that the 3,300-square-foot house would survive its second century. “We see it as a passing of the torch,” says Riley, 37, who works as a product developer for an apparel company.
Alise O’Brien
The challenges kept coming. In June 2020, contractors walked out on the project, claiming they were in over their collective head. With the pandemic raging, finding new workers was not easy. The couple had no choice but to take on such varied roles as painter and woodworker. Monzyk spent weekends perched on scaffolding, stripping red-orange paint from the brick façade to comply with the city’s historic renovation requirements. Riley regularly climbed a ladder to stuff the walls with Rockwool for soundproofing.
The couple hired Adriana Perrone of AP,A, whom they met through a neighbor, as their architect. “She was our steady,” says Riley. Perrone didn’t just make the house more structurally sound; she also served as a sounding board and tiebreaker when the couple needed it.
Working with them was a delight, says the St. Louis-based architect. “They were always optimistic and going the extra mile to do it right,” she says. “They were out there with toothbrushes, polishing brass.”
Alise O’Brien
For the kitchen renovation, the couple teamed up with Jen Driy of E&B Granite. Together they selected custom-painted blue cabinets and a large quartz island. The choice of unlacquered brass finishes and a geometric Moroccan Zellige tile made for an authentic feel. “We felt like it could have always been in here, since it’s not perfect,” Riley says.
The couple’s favorite space, the second-floor sleeping porch, almost didn’t survive the renovation. Perrone discovered that the cast-iron columns supporting the porch, which were similar to those used in railroad stations of the day, were “held into the ground with only some rock, dirt, and concrete.” The home’s original owner, Edmond Walter LaBeaume, worked as head ticketmaster for the Cotton Belt route of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway.
But after a full demo and reconstruction, a new four-season room in the same spot is where the family loves to spend most of their time. (The couple’s son, now 1-and-a-half, was born during the renovation.) Walls of windows face out onto the branches of a mature sycamore, giving the room the feel of a treehouse. Heated tile floor, white-upholstered furniture, and a portrait of LaBeaume, commissioned by Riley to honor the history of the property, help make the room cozy and comfortable.
Photography by Alise O'Brien
Renovating a 100-year-old house will never achieve perfection. “There will be gaps and creaks and chips,” Riley says. “You have to look for the beauty in the imperfections and realize that the history and story of the house is what provides all of that character.”
Perrone’s advice for buying and renovating a historic house is simple: Be respectful of it.
“It’s your home to live in, but know that you’re not coming into a blank slate,” she says. “It’s had a life. We can’t get any more of these, and when the details are destroyed, they’re gone. It’s important for St. Louis to maintain that history.”
