Feb
10
St Louis Commercial Real Estate For Sale - Highlights of Washington Avenue, St. Louis
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Highlights of Washington Avenue, St. Louis
Washington Avenue is a great historic avenue in St. Louis, boasting of some terrific attractions and sights. At the turn of the 20th century, Washington Avenue was a wonderful canyon of rich brick buildings of unparalleled architectural beauty where shoes, clothing, and fashion manufacturers practiced their trade. This was a booming time for these manufacturers, and their goods were in high demand as St. Louis and the nation were expanding and prospering at an unrivaled speed.
The sidewalks of Washington Avenue were the picture of a booming metropolis where people strolled along in their stunning turn of the century hats and parasols and bustles, window shopping for the smart and innovative goods of the day. This was the home of the famous garment district that always garners attention in any city. A growing printing industry was also beginning to blossom at this time. All in all, Washington Avenue was quickly becoming a hot spot in St. Louis.
These days, Washington Avenue is transformed into a whole new phenomenon, being reinvented as a terrific neighborhood of residential lofts, galleries, nightclubs and various attractions that are attractive to a great demographic of youth and families. It’s quickly becoming a St. Louis hot spot with wonderful architecture and commerce.
Just as a great boom happened on Washington Avenue at the turn of the 20th century, the second boom began at the turn of the 21st century. Plans were set in motion following the Washington Avenue Streetscape Project. Funding was provided in the form of $4 million from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and $13 million from the Missouri Dept. of Transportation enhancement program.
The new design plan came complete with great lighting, a plaza, trees, and wider sidewalks all along Washington Avenue from Tucker to 18th Street. Washington Avenue, thanks to these innovations, has become a great place to shop and meet with friends. Retailers and restaurants have noticed a wonderful rise in income as people are more often hanging out here.
New businesses are looking to buy shop space in this area of St. Louis, seeing the great potential for income and expansion of their businesses. People enjoy the updated streets and fun architecture that beckons back to another time in St. Louis history.
Take for example old buildings like P.T. Barnett’s Spanish mission style building on 3207 Washington Ave. That’s just another great model for places in St. Louis where the old perfectly intertwines with the new, creating fresh ideas for business and expansion.
The moral of the story is: the time to live and work on Washington Avenue is now! Families, businesses, and individuals are all seeing the great potential in this part of St. Louis, and you should do the same. If you have a small business, or are just looking for the next hip place to live in St. Louis, check out Washington Ave.
Go to: http://www.3207washington.com for MORE info.
Feb
6
St Louis Commercial Real Estate For sale, Thomas P. Barnett Spanish Mission
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Smith and Barnett: The Spanish Revivalists
George Washington Smith was born in Pennsylvania in 1876 on George Washington’s birthday. He was the son of a famous Pennsylvania engineer, and studied painting at the Pennsylvania academy of Fine Arts. He later made his way to Harvard University where he studied in architecture.
Smith moved to California and designed and built his own home in Montecito, modeled after the Spanish farmhouses he so admired in Andalusia. The house he built, known as Casa Dracaena was beautifully successful, and images of the property were used as adds to sell certain kinds of tile and cement for other building projects. His neighbors started to want to live in similar buildings, and Smith became a full time architect to fulfill the demand. He became one of the most famous architects in the United States.
Smith is credited as the father of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style. His original Montecito home, as well as “Casa Del Greco”, his second self-designed residences next door, built in 1920, are still extant today as family residences.
The Spanish style is always in high demand in the United States, as seen across the nation in other forms of Spanish style, like the Spanish mission style. A great example is the Spanish Mission Deco style that was a style-fusion that happened in the 1920’s. T.P. Barnett’s Spanish Deco building in St. Louis on the famous Washington Ave. is a great example of that.
Thomas P. Barnett’s father was one of the most prominent architects in St. Louis, and Thomas went on to carry the family flag with pride. When George I. Barnett died in 1898, his two sons George D. and Thomas P. would go on to further contribute to the rich architectural history of St. Louis. The boys would eventually come to create Barnett, Haynes, and Barnett with their brother in law John Haynes. All of them had trained with the elder Barnett, and all of them were imbued with the same spirit, talent, and artistry.
Together, George Washington Smith and Thomas P. Barnett have changed the face of Spanish Mission Revivalist architecture. These guys certainly weren’t practicing the more cosmetic forms of Spanish revivalism, their buildings were head to toe authentic and intricate in their construction, and their buildings are still thoroughly enjoyed today for their beauty and history.
Thomas P Barnett created some of the most beautiful buildings in the Art Deco Spanish Mission architecture period in the early 1900’s. Mark Bradley is a historic building renovation specialist. The Original Plans for The Thomas P Barnet Historic building in St Louis can be downloaded for free go to: http://www.3207washington.com/
