have you ever wanted to see a house that is not open to the public
hi everyone ken here welcome to this house today we are in tower grove park in st louis missouri
exploring an italian villa style house that was built in the 1860s
let's take a quick look around outside and then we're going to go explore
entering the home we arrive in the vestibule the foyer is off to this side and the dining room is
straight ahead but before we head on exploring let's check out some of the amazing details in
the space if we look down the floors are mosaic tile work with alternating red and blue tiles
and off to this side is a window that looks out over the side porch
now these encasements contain plantation shutters which can be pulled out to provide privacy
continuing on from the vestibule we are going to head into the stair hall
so come on through these double doors and let's start taking a look around these stairs rise up
to the second floor and we're going to see more of the details on the landing whenever we do go
up there in the meantime let's pay special attention to some of these finer details
such as how the banister curves into the oversized noodle post and the milled spindles that continue
all the way up the stairs now if you come around to this side and take a look there is millwork
that finishes out the side of the steps before they begin to float above us
continuing towards the front of the house we are going to arrive in the music room
but first let's take a moment to pause and look at this encasement i wonder how many wires of brick
are actually hidden between here because i believe this might be the thickest interior wall we have
ever seen while exploring a residential home enough about that let's come on in here and start
taking a look around as we look out we can see a giant bay window that looks out over magnolia
and there are two windows to either side which allow even more light to flood in
suspended above me in the very center of the space is a crystal chandelier and
let's take a moment to see this because the metal work on here is incredibly intricate
now as we bring our focus back down our eyes rest on a fireplace
and this is made of solid marble and still has its summer cover on it
and the patinaed mirror directly above the fireplace just really adds the overall aesthetic
walking now out of the music room we are going to cut back to the vestibule and this is going
to take us to the dining room and in this space we are going to find unpainted millwork
we can just go ahead and look out across this room to see the marble fireplace
the large windows which also have those built-in plantation shutters that pull out from the sides
and as we bring our attention back to this side of the room
we can see this large built-in hutch underneath an arch with all of these different cabinets
including diamond pane glass to show off some of your books and finer dinnerware
continuing now to the parlor we walk into this space and the wallpaper is very telling
about the views that we'll see so if we head over here towards these large french doors
we can now look out over the back garden when this house was originally built it was planned
to be the first villa as a display home to sell the idea that large villas like this
should completely surround the park as they do in europe so 200 feet width lots were set aside
surrounding tower grove park originally which would have housed these large homes
however that dream did not pan out and the city ended up acquiring those lots in 1926.
passing now into the butler's pantry we can look at these built-ins and this is just something i
find to be absolutely adorable let's take a moment to see some of these details how the legs come out
onto the floor to support the shelves and then just some of the trinkets that are displayed
behind the glass cases also off of this space is a bathroom so we'll just take a quick peek in there
and then the conservatory is off to the other side once again we'll just
take a quick glance and then we're going to move on to the kitchen
right here is another detail that we have not seen while exploring these homes in st
louis let's look at the size of these hinges up here on the door this is just absolutely
wild and we'll get a close-up of this as well a join to the butler's pantry is the eat-in kitchen
and as we begin to look around this space we can see that the cabinets countertops and appliances
are all more modern than the period in which the house was built and this does provide more
modern amenities for the brides who prepare for their weddings in this house some of the
interesting details that i want to point out in this kitchen are the built-ins below the
window ledge here also let's take a moment to see the side door with the privacy glass both
in the transom and on the door itself and then just this really massive piece of hardware here
now cutting back across the kitchen we are going to walk into the stair hall
so come on through here and let's go take a look at what's upstairs
arriving at the stair landing we come to this really magnificent space if we look up directly
above me there's a stained glass window that arches with curved millwork down at the base
off to either side of me are niches each of them are arched at the top
and they roll inside of themselves which just really exaggerates the curvilinear
elements that are found in the space so let's continue on up and start exploring the bedrooms
from the stair landing we can now go to three different places directly in
front of me as the library and the primary bedroom off to this side is the bathroom
with the staircase that will take us up to the crow's nest at the top of the tower
but first let's explore this bedroom so come on in here and take a look at this there is a large
fireplace this one is the first painted fireplace we're seeing and it does not have a summer cover
on it however it does have some interesting features so let's take a closer look at this
now bringing our gaze back up we can look out over this rooms there are windows on
three of these walls which allows a ton of natural light to flood in here
and the only bit of color that we can see incorporated into the architectural elements
is the blue bit of crown molding that separates the off-white trim
cutting now across the stair landing we are going to walk into the library so let's begin
to really look at the space there are all of these bookshelves and these are not built in
these are freestanding pieces of furniture the desk is set in the middle of the room and we have
windows on two of the walls allowing a lot of natural light to once again flood into the space
sitting over here on this desk is a piece of the park's history which is worth mentioning the band
stands in this park are known to be some of the best in the entire country and possibly
the entire world for not only the quality of their construction but also the quantity
joined to the library is the primary bedroom so we are going to pass through this opening
there are closets on either side here however we are not going to take a look at those today
so come on through here and let's just look at the space there are windows once again
on three sides of the room allowing tons of natural light to flood in
there are gorgeous panoramic views of the park from here as well
now we are going to see the part of the home that i've been most excited to show you all
so let's cut back into the stair landing and pivot into this bathroom
so we can just take a quick look at some of the things in here such as the clawfoot tub
and the pedestal sink and then we're going to follow the staircase up
arriving at the top of the crow's nest i am so excited to just open up one of these pairs of
plantation shutters and look out to see the view so let's take a look at this window and this is
just wild you can see 360 degree views of tower grove park so absolutely astounding to see the
park from this perspective thank you all for joining me on this tour i really hope that you
enjoyed this video please make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting
episode of this house i'd also like to tell you about an event coming up here at the park
tower grove park is celebrating its 150th birthday this year and they have a whole slew of events
lined up for june on june 12th is a very special day it's called love in the park and i will put
more information and a link down in the video description so that you can see what that's all
about and plan your trip out there i'd also like to take a moment to say thank you to our members
whose names you can see on screen right now if you would like to see your name on the screen please
consider joining our membership program today in the meantime i'll see you next time on this house!