hi everyone my name is ken welcome to this house today we are in downtown st
louis missouri exploring the cosmopolitan building this is an exclusive tour and this
will be the first time it's ever been on camera so what do you say we go explore
built in 1896 the cosmopolitan building stands out on olive street in downtown st
louis with a neo-gothic limestone facade that has been carefully restored the building once
housed the clark peeper company which was st louis's oldest surviving furniture
manufacturing company now before we go inside i'd like to take a moment to give
a huge shout out to justin strohm with circa properties for opening the doors here for us
walking inside the cosmopolitan we are immediately stunned by just how massive the space is
with so many intricate artistic details played out throughout here so first let's start by
just looking out we can see the ceiling murals and the plaster medallions from which ceiling
fans are suspended there are also these vintage lanterns that hang from the ceiling
now as we bring our eyes down we can see the custom tile work which is delineated by
wrought iron which starts to bring you up a slight slope to the main area
in moving further into the space we arrive at a gothic fireplace which has two built-ins on either
side of it so let's take a moment to see some of these details before heading in a little further
now this fireplace and these built-ins were both rescued from a historic home in ledoux
the home was being torn down to clear out space for
newer homes to be built and the owner of this building found it in his heart
to rescue these charming pieces and bring them into this building so it's just really amazing to
see that these local pieces have been reinstalled here to be given a second chance at life
beyond the fireplace and directly facing one of the built-ins
is this beautiful bar it has a frosted glass top with engravings on it saying the cosmopolitan
as well as a mirrored background that also has the words cosmopolitan printed out on them
and we can also take a moment to appreciate the fretworks and all of the wood carvings
as well as these intricate rosettes that play out across this magnificent piece
and finally this brings us to the very end of the space so there's this beautiful wooden
door over here once again intricately and ornately carved let's take a moment to see
the hardware on here too because it's really interesting so what do you say we keep exploring
coming to the store this takes us into the back stair hall we can see
the stairs that run up and this goes all the way to the top of the building
and also down to the basement now we're going to use the elevator in just a second which is
directly ahead of me so let's go ahead and turn around and take a look at this
but on our way there let's stop and pause because there are these beautiful tile mosaics that are
100 custom made for the space so you're not going to find these in any other building in st louis
so to ascend in this building we are going to take the elevator which is right here
come on through here and i'll show you how this works because this is just so fascinating
first we take down the band here and then we close this first door
and then we close this all the way
and then we're going to go up to the mezzanine so we'll just hold this button in and this is going
to take us right up there stepping out of the elevator we arrive at the mezzanine there are
two workspaces set up to either side of me as we continue further down we can overlook
the lobby area where we first entered and there's some stunning details to see here
as we can see the lotus on the wall that has been folded to look like rich wood grains
now as we turn the corner there is a hallway that takes us back to the stair hall
and we'll go up there in just a moment but first i want us all to take a peek inside this bathroom
let's look at this gothic door here and come check out this hardware
and now that we've seen everything on the mezzanine let's keep exploring
we've just stepped out of the elevator and these double doors will take us to
a bit of a storage area we'll just peek our heads
in here real fast and then we're going to continue straight down the hallway
arriving at the end of the hallway this takes us into
basically a storage room but this collection is just so amazing now usually we focus on
the architecture but there are some items in here that just you guys need
to see them so let's take a look around and then we'll continue on up to the next floor
stepping out of the elevator we now arrive on the third floor and this is
the first apartment that we'll be seeing directly behind me is the kitchen and a
full bathroom we'll just take quick peeks at this and then we're going to move along
now moving deeper into the space it goes straight back to the front of the building so let's take a
moment to see some of these details as we make our way down there there are all of these niches that
are built into the supports that create arches in a series that goes down kind of like a colonnade
off to the other side we can see obelisk that are supporting a lofted space
at the end of the colonnade it terminates into the sleeping area and living area
so let's turn around here and see this because this is just amazing
now this living area it has a full wall of windows that does look out onto olive street
behind me is that lofted area so we'll just take a peek up there
and before we do let's notice how the shapes here on the banister
match some of the angles that we've been seeing play out along the walls
now that we've seen the entire apartment let's keep exploring this building
stepping out on the fourth floor this floor is mostly original to how the building had been
previously now if we turn around and look we can see that the clark peeper company logo
is still up here on one of the ceiling beams before we leave this space let's
take a moment to look around and then we're going to go see the last floor
now that we've seen this space let's head on up to the fifth floor
welcome to the fifth floor
all right come on out of the elevator and let's start looking at the fifth floor penthouse
so directly behind me are the doors that lead into the penthouse proper
and this was where we first introduced this building at the very beginning of the video
before we go through there let's take a moment to see this kitchen so this is absolutely stunning we
can see the joists coming out curved and arched above us we can see stonework all around us old
doors and all of these repurposed windows with their stained glass and backlit by neon lights
now as we turn around the kitchen has just one of the most phenomenal views of the downtown st louis
skyline and just the details that abound in this space are just leaving me absolutely breathless
now that we've seen the kitchen let's go on and explore
walking into this space the tile from the kitchen continues in here with its tile borders and
creates a small platform from which the doors can open onto from the rest of this it will now become
carpet now let's turn around and really see some of these details there are these stone columns
that lead up to these rounded trusses there are what appear to be brass insets in the woodwork
and it just keeps going there is a closet over here
and then a grand staircase with wrought iron bringing
you all the way up to a lofted sleeping area
now bringing your eyes back down we come across a solid marble fireplace that was imported from
china so we can take a moment to appreciate this as well as the surrounding woodwork
continuing further into this penthouse we come to
a lofted seating area so we can see that there's some steps that take you up
to some seats where you can sit down and see the movie screen behind you
and over on the far side is the bedroom
and these windows are just gorgeous the way that they round out underneath the stone
thank you all for joining me on this tour i really hope that you enjoyed it