Ferguson Tudor shows distinctive architectural parts

When Jerry and Mary Whitley first determined to view the itemizing for his or her house in 1998, they couldn’t place the place it was positioned. “We’re each lovers of outdated homes, and the itemizing caught our eye,” Jerry Whitley says. “We knew our method round Ferguson as a result of we lived in a house for 14 years only a mile away, however we weren’t aware of the home or the road.”

After they discovered it and toured it each agreed it was the house for them. “It was so distinctive; we actually appreciated it instantly,” he says.

The bizarre German Tudor revival exuded a way of peace. The hovering proportions of the entry and the lounge, the large fireplace that spoke of heat and the curious second-floor balcony that missed the primary flooring echoed sacred structure mostly present in church buildings. When the Whitleys discovered the historical past of their house, the design intent got here into focus.

“Louis Bangert and his spouse, Annalise Bangert, the house’s first house owners, belonged to the Zion Lutheran Church on the finish of Carson Street, simply three blocks from our house. Annalise performed the organ at Zion, and Louis was on the constructing committee. They constructed the church in 1927. The architect, Theo Steinmeyer, designed 60 church buildings in his profession. He solely designed two residences — this home and his personal,” Jerry Whitley says.

Bangert was one of many house owners of a quarry in St. Louis within the Twenties. “There’s a carved stone crest on our fire,” Jerry says. “If you take a look at it, there’s a decide and a shovel crossed and super-imposed over a lyre, an emblem of music. Annalise had a grand piano in the lounge, so the crest is a mix of his quarry work and her music.”

Jerry comes by his love of Ferguson historical past and houses truthfully. He’s chaired the Ferguson Landmarks Affiliation for the previous three years, and he’s been a board member for six years. Since 1981, the affiliation has given plaques to 156 century houses in Ferguson which have retained their unique character and options and have been correctly maintained. The oldest home dates to 1856.

The Whitleys house might be eligible for a century plaque in 2030. Though the property first seems within the information in 1925, the Whitleys found it was really in-built 1930. “We discovered the date ‘1930’ carved into the concrete flooring within the furnace room. After we transformed the first-floor rest room and eliminated the outdated forged iron sink, ‘1930’ was stamped into the rim and a mirror in our upstairs rest room was dated the identical,” he says.

Through the years the Whitleys put their distinctive stamp on the house whereas retaining its unique bones. The 2 are avid collectors. Each get pleasure from creating corners and vignettes all through the house that replicate very private tales.

Mary’s assortment and love of Hummels be all ears to the time she and her household spent in Germany when she was a toddler. “Some had been my mom’s and others I’ve collected by myself,” she says. She shows a gaggle of midcentury modern girl’s head vases in a curio cupboard in the lounge whereas extra trendy vases acquired on a visit to the Southwest line up on the window seat within the eating room.

A tall guardian angel stands on the window seat as properly, watching over the home. “We purchased the angel at Walmart within the late fall intending to put it in our backyard within the spring. We introduced her into the home, out of the chilly, and she or he’s stayed there each since,” Jerry Whitley says.

Jerry’s assortment of well-designed transistor radios made within the Fifties and ’60s sit in a bookcase. His transportable Mickey cellphone turntable can be on show. “It’s referred to as the Soldier’s Gramophone,” he says. “It’s a wind-up turntable made out of actually heavy steel, nevertheless it folds up into a bit of dice field 6 inches by 4 by 3.”

The 2 discovered their elaborately carved eating room set on Craigslist and solely wanted to refinish the scarred desk prime. “The desk is 6-feet lengthy however with two leaves it expands to 10 toes and might seat 12 folks comfortably,” he says.

He enjoys gardening of their shady yard, rising ferns, hostas, shock lilies, and aromatic lilies of the valley. He additionally put in a pool or fish and water lilies. Throughout the pandemic he added a waterfall.

Mary transformed the smallest bed room on the second flooring into a stitching room and craft studio the place she enjoys stitching tasks, scrapbooking, tole portray, and different crafts that strike her fancy.

Each get pleasure from sitting of their all-season porch watching the birds at their feeders and the wildlife that go to the pond and the yard in one other peaceable nook of the home that sustains their spirits.