I strongly suspected that this building, a bank, received its arcaded front some time in the 1960's. The brick wall just looked older, or not quite right.
Ah ha, looking at the wall facing the alley, you can see a dentilated cornice, that reveals that this bank was once constructed in a different style.
This post-modern looking apartment building is right on Lockwood, in the heart of Webster Groves, but I think it fits in well with the street wall, relatively.
I was expecting a pool in the courtyard, but unfortunately there's just a parking lot. I love the repeating concrete blocks.
Webster Groves was a city built by the access to railroads, and the two major stations that served the area still stand. The one in downtown Webster Groves is now a Montessori school, while the southern train station, serving the Frisco Line, sits empty, though well-preserved. Sitting right by the tracks, one must wonder what use it could serve. Perhaps a small company would be a perfect tenant.
Eden Seminary, in Webster Groves features a beautiful, if standard English Gothic main building, but I'm more intrigued by the library built in the lawn in front of the older academic hall.
The massing of this strange, Brutalist building seems to be the same as some traditional depictions of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.
Take a look for yourself here, and see if there's a correlation. It would make sense, considering it's a seminary's library.
I couldn't get inside the church the day I was walking by, but I imagine that the interior is bathed in color from the stained glass windows.
The front elevation is strikingly simple, and certainly a bold choice for the otherwise Victorian Era architecture of Webster Groves.
The bell tower is a classic example of form following function; the tower holds the bells, and that is pretty much the extent of its form.
I strongly suspect the curved structure on the front is the baptistry; I find it fascinating that they are separate rooms in so many Catholic churches in St. Louis, as it is quite common in Italian cathedrals.
The side of the church features sleek lines that hide the windows from the street.
