NESTLED AMONG THE STATELY HOUSES lining the 7000 block of University City’s Delmar Boulevard is a brand-new home—although you might not notice. Designed with a careful balance of historic charm and modern amenities, the elegant home doesn’t look any different from its older neighbors. “The area is rich with St. Louis architectural tradition, and we tried to be very sympathetic to that,” says architect Barry Glantz of Glantz & Associates Architects, who designed the house for Mehlman Homes Realty.
The 4,200-square-foot home at 7036 Delmar Blvd. is located in the historic Phoenix Heights neighborhood and overlooks Lewis Park. Its long-established feel is accomplished, in part, with a detailed brick exterior. “It’s all reminiscent of what people would see at the turn of the century—older homes in St. Louis were traditionally brick with a lot of rich detail,” Glantz says. Although brick is far more expensive than siding, Glantz says it was crucial not to cut corners. “People will pay for craftsmanship and detail, and that’s what we’ve tried to do here,” he says. “We didn’t want to just plop a typical suburban home into this setting. Our hope was that it would look like it had been there for years.” Inside, the five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom home features a traditional center foyer flanked by living and dining rooms. The back areas are wide open, with a great room, breakfast room and kitchen flowing into each other to enhance family living and informal entertaining. “The way each space is designed, it works together,” Glantz says. “For example, the breakfast room is basically open space and flows with the kitchen and great room,
but it’s also got a nook that sets it apart.” The home’s upper level also has a popular contemporary element: a laundry room. “The bedrooms are upstairs, and that is where most of the laundry is generated,” Glantz says. “It’s a dated approach to place the laundry between the garage and the house.”
Glantz is no stranger to designing custom houses amid existing communities and says he enjoyed working on this home. “This was a fun one to work on because it’s in an older, established neighborhood and fortunately the builder didn’t want to fight the surroundings,” he says. “It’s always been important for the Mehlmans to take a step back and not put a typical cookie-cutter house up.
by Stephanie Zeilenga
listing price | $869,000
listing agent | Debi Mehlman, Mehlman Hhomes Realty; Joanne Iskiwitch, Coldwell Banker