Alswel, Revisted Again

A reader was kind enough to submit a higher resolution image of Alswel from the Meramec floodplain. I can't get enough of this house, and its unique legacy and appearance.

Photos courtesy of Wes Bradley

Alswel, Revisited

A reader snapped an up close picture of Alswel recently while visiting a friend in the neighborhood. It's looking good after all of these years.

Photo by Joanne Owens

Request for More Information

A reader of St. Louis Patina is looking for someone who posted on the Lemp Mansion a while back, and if that reader is still enjoying my blog, if he could contact me, that would be cool. The original message that elicited interest:

"I had a Great Uncle, George Coombes, who had a thriving camp called "Ivanhoe Lodge" near Geyer and Cragwold until lightning took the main lodge and the highway took the rest. The camp was "out in the country" and the children were actually picked up and dropped off each day by coach.

"All that remains of the camp are a buffalo and elk head that once hung in the main lodge (quite a site), and scores of old film.

"This discussion has prompted me to view this old film (it should be interesting to view film of this specific area not seen in over 60 years- I look forward to playing around with the old projector).

"Maybe it will shed some light on the history of such a rich historic area.
January 10, 2009 11:20 PM"

Here is the original post, In Search of Cragwold.

Lemp Mansion, Sunset

Lemp Mansion, Sunset

In Search of Alswel

In the grainy photo above, you can see my attempt to photograph one of the other legendary houses owned by the Lemp family, in this case one that looks like a giant Swiss chalet. It is unreachable due to a security gate, but you can see pictures here at the St. Louis County website. Also, the entire historic nomination file is here. Like its cousin Cragwold, up the Meramec River, Alswel represents a fascinating look into St. Louis's past, when Sunset Hills was a resort and the hideout of the city's industrialist families.Alswel sits at a strange bend in the Meramec, where it spreads out into a lake. Just like Cragwold, the best photograph I could get was from the bottomlands below the estate. The park at the bend in the river has these cool delta wing shelters.

In Search of Cragwold

It came to my attention recently that the Lemp family had a western outpost in St. Louis County named Cragwold, now in Kirkwood. You can read about the Lemp family here; Edwin Lemp, the last son, built the Cragwold Estate. The mansion overlooks the Meramec Valley on the edge of a cliff; it is a bit confusing to explain how to get to the Lemp Estate.Originally, Cragwold was reached via Lemp Road, off of Forest Avenue just south of Big Bend Road. Below is what I believe to be the original entrance to the estate; if you look carefully, you can see a stone house that was probably the caretaker's house.What has changed since 1911, when Cragwold was built, is the addition of a superhighway we all know well: I-270. Looking at this map, you can see that Lemp Road originally went straight towards Cragwold. First the interstate, and then a subdivision, slowly erased Lemp Road's original trajectory to the river bluffs. Look at a map of the area here; the mansion in the lower left corner is Cragwold. Lemp Road now makes an angled turn at the old gateway, instead of following a straight course through the gates.Cragwold is accessible from the aptly named Cragwold Road, but don't go trying to knock on the front door. The current owners have "no trespassing" signs posted along the road, so to catch a view of the mansion, you must head across the Meramec River to Unger Park, where the mansion comes into splendid view from the flood plains below. You can read more about the mansion here on page two of this pdf. The house is essentially one story, but clearly has a basement on the bluffs side of the house. The house is listed as having 9,015 square feet, five bedrooms and five bathrooms. An observation tower complements the house, providing what must have been stunning views of the valley before the Chrysler Plant was built.Here is a bird's eye view of the mansion, which is no longer owned by the Lemp family. Supposedly when Edwin Lemp died, he ordered his butler to burn all of the family heirlooms in an attempt to end the curse that had haunted the family for so long.

Lemp Mansion

Coming Soon: Pictures of the other Lemp mansion.