have you ever wondered what it's like to live inside of a bar well let's go find out this bar
was built in 1908 and has been since converted into a single family house now the amazing couple
who invited me out here reached out to me on r\st louis on reddit come on up to the patio and
this has all been added on in more recent years there's this giant pergola that soars above us
but we can still see the original cast iron storefront that would have been here
and this actually would have not been the entrance to the bar that would have been on the side of the
house let's take a moment to just really see these details there are these rosettes and then there
are even these cast iron rods that are disguised as rosettes atop this column underneath the turret
other areas of interest include the flemish style parapet wall with five finials along the roof line
and a conical turret with slight roof and siding
all right let's go see what's inside
we've just walked inside and immediately we noticed just how large the space is so there
are 12 foot ceilings throughout now to either side of me and we'll take a closer look at these
these are the original windows from when this was a bar so you can imagine that the original
front door would have been right here you would have opened this up and walked into the space
so follow me on over here and there is a threshold and a step up this takes
us to the original occupant stairs so they would have entered from the door on the side
over here and gone up and then they could have opened the store to access their bar
so this most likely would have been the shopkeeps who lived directly above this
as we move this way we now come to what is kind of a replication of the original bar
so this was added probably within the last 30 years or so now the
owners have done something really special they've brought in a period cash register
as we walk through this house there are some really interesting structural details to
notice so these poles run all the way through the house and we can actually see on the far
side that it's been embedded into the wall but it is still supporting this beam directly above here
so let's look up and this is actually the original tin ceiling and we can just really see how
intricate it all is moving further into this space we now come to what is set up as the living room
and the first thing i really want to point out is the chandelier so this was actually rescued from a
home in the central west end and brought into the space and we can see that there was a space for
the hardware to be hooked up for the chandelier up here on the ceiling so we can imagine that there
was probably always something possibly similar to this hanging in this space now the living room is
set up really interestingly there's this built-in that's a partition shelf and it really separates
off this space from the space that we just saw so let's start exploring the rest of the house
now off to the side of the bar over here is a full bathroom so let's just take a peek inside of here
now we can get to the back side of the house and this is where things start
to get really new before they get really old again
so come on through here and we are now passing into the kitchen
this brings us into the kitchen there is this giant island
that really kind of helps to delineate the space in this room there are these dark cabinets that
match all of the wood trim that we've been seeing on all the windows and doors so far
and granite countertops and this brick backsplash is actually the same brick that we see around the
rest of the room it has just been painted to kind of give it an accent and i think that is a
great way to really update the space while still maintaining its original charm and look so once
again we come to another one of these amazing structural columns that's been preserved here
and as we turn around there's actually a fireplace in this room and this would not have been original
to the house of course it's in more of a modern style but one of the big indicators that shows
us that there was never a fireplace here is we can look up at the ceiling and we can see that the tin
has been cut and replaced so this tells us that at one point there would have been an additional wall
that cut out the space now on the outside of the house is a window that goes to nowhere and it's
very small so it tells us that this was probably a bathroom at one point now we've seen the entire
first floor let's go ahead and move over here this is going to take us to what is the back staircase
and actually i want to show you all something before we go upstairs come on through here and
just look up there is a tin ceiling and it has patina on it so this has not been painted so we
can really see how it would have looked kind of in a raw state continuing on this store is
going to take us outside so let's go see what the patio looks like walking outside we come
to this little deck area and as we pass down this is all covered by the way there's a deck
that comes off of the home office and we'll see that whenever we go upstairs but there are these
beautiful pavers there's a wonderful garden with all these planter boxes there's a cinder block
wall and it actually has an urn on top of it and there's an identical one over here on this side
as well to just kind of frame out the space and then behind us is actually a pretty good size
bit of yard here so of course there's covered parking and then there's also grass so that's
really nice to just have a little flat area for pets and kids what not there is an entrance to the
basement down over here now if we come over here we can actually see that some of these bricks are
stamped with the years that they were replaced and that's just really interesting off to the side is
a cast iron downspout now this is still functional it brings the water down and out through the yard
and we can actually see upstairs where the gutter was moved and i'll show you that later when we're
up there now we've seen the backyard let's go check out what's upstairs so let's go on up
coming up the stairs of course there's all this beautiful woodwork and this is all original to
the house now we saw something similar to this in the last house that we viewed the banister is in
sections so this indicates that it was probably built here on site by skilled craftsmen who would
put blocks and then sand it down as they went along here so building the staircase could have
taken as long as a week or possibly longer so let's continue going up now as we arrive
at the top of the steps there's a hallway that takes us down towards the bedrooms but first
let's walk forward and this takes us into the bathroom now originally this would have been the
kitchen so let's just take a moment to look around the space there's beadboard on the back wall there
is a pedestal sink and a clawfoot tub as well as a full shower moving on from the bathroom we're
going to go down this hall and this is kind of t shaped here so it's going to shoot off this
way and this way now the first place we're going to go to is the home office so come on in here
we can see that the tin ceiling up above has been replaced in more recent years so it's not original
to the house but it does pay homage to what could have been here originally now something to really
point out is it still has the original hardware so let's take a closer look at this and we're
actually going to see the same hardware on all of the doors on the second floor now passing over to
this side of the room there is another piece of really intricate hardware below the transom and
above the door let's take the french door out to the patio now of course this french door is newer
out here on the deck we can get beautiful views of the tower grove park tree line so all of the
streets that you see off in the distance are part of st louis's second largest park which is
just about three blocks that way so that really puts us in walking distance to some of the best
amenities that the city has to offer as far as public lands go now crossing over this way we
can see where this would have been an old smoker's patio so if we look on the brick over here we can
see with the lead paint and the cast iron has oxidized and imprinted on the brick staining it
and this gives us a perfect outline of the post that was here now the gutter that i mentioned
down on the first floor on the backyard we can see that it would have originally continued here
because once again it has been printed on the brick and the new gutter has been run off to
this side coming back inside the house we're now just going to shut this door and we will start
exploring the rest of the home so we're going to walk back out into this hallway and we'll make a
quick turn off to this side to see the first guest bedroom so come on through here and one of the
first things that really catches our eye is the trifoil arch that's right above us and we'll see
this a couple more times as we go through the house so let's just take a moment to see this
now passing out of this bedroom and adjoined to this bedroom is another bedroom and there's
a door that takes us there of course it has the original hardware the same baroque style hardware
that we've been seeing throughout the rest of the house and there's another trifoil arch that's
directly above us so come on through here now we can see that it has the original windows with the
original window trim and as we rotate around the space we can see that most of the baseboards are
original though they have been kind of patched and repaired in a few places but they've been
mashed up pretty well and then there's a mural on this wall that was done by previous owners
now passing out of this bedroom we're now going to go down this long hall
and this is going to take us to the master suite so of course the lights above us are new and there
are other doors that takes us to the linen closets off to this side is that first staircase that we
saw whenever we enter the house so we can go ahead and peek down here and of course this
takes us down to the living room and would have originally been the occupants entrance that could
just take them directly up to their apartment now passing back through here we come to these double
french doors and this takes us into the foyer for the master bedroom so there is of course a
mirrored closet on this side there's a bathroom right behind me and we'll look at this first so
come on in here we can see that it has this beautiful updated shower with custom trim
around it there's also this giant jacuzzi tub and if we turn around to this side there is a
double vanity under a large mirror and of course edison bulbs above coming out of the bathroom
we're now going to pass this box archway and this takes us to the sitting room for the master
some really interesting things of course there's a newer updated fireplace
but the original cast iron inset is laying right here and ready to be reattached
over here is just a really special spot so their dog loves to lay up here inside of the turret and
this is what we saw on the outside of the house the round room that's floating up in the corner
now coming off the sitting room there are these giant pocket doors and these are bird's eye maple
and we last saw this in the magic chef mission so we can go ahead and just tuck these away
and come on in and let's see the master bedroom
now of course this bedroom has been fully updated it has a modern ceiling fan
it has these more modern built-in cabinets over here for storing clothes so it's kind
of like a wardrobe in a sense now over here is another fireplace this matches the one
that we just saw in the sitting room however it does not have its original cast iron inset
and to pay homage once again to some of the things that we've been seeing there
are some period pieces like this old boudoir here that's set up with makeup
now that we've seen the entire second floor let's go look at the basement because we think it might
have been a speakeasy back in prohibition days let's go find out as we come downstairs the first
thing that we really see is the cellar so come on in here and there are barrel vaulted ceilings and
we are actually now underneath the patio that's out front so we're not even underneath the house
here we can imagine that when this was a bar this would have been set up with beer kegs and
wine bottles and there's actually a matching one on the other side that goes out further towards
the street underneath the patio so as we come out of here we're actually just going to skip ahead
and i want to show you guys something really cool further into the basement we find these really
decorative and ornate cast iron columns that encase the support so this is just not something
that you would see in a basement if it was just for support which makes us think that this could
have been a speakeasy back in the day during the prohibition days so we can just really see these
flares and another really interesting detail is there's the store now the bricks on the other side
of the store are stamped with the years 1921 and 1924 which of course were dates leading up to the
prohibition just another really interesting thing to kind of ponder about now that we've seen the
entire house let's go meet the owners and talk to them about their experience with this house
carrie and steve thank you so much for opening your doors and for allowing us
to film here your house is just amazing thank you yeah thanks for coming yeah
so what drew you to this house originally so i had actually been stocking it on zillow for quite some
time i really we were in the market for a house in the tower grove south area it's our favorite
part of the city and i just loved the architecture within the house and i loved the area so i just
kept watching it kept watching it and finally it was a little bit within our price point so
i was so excited that before we um toured the house with our realtor we walked around
the block in the area and steve he was like uh uh i don't wanna it's not worth it um but i was like
let's let's just look inside let's look inside um and then when we did go inside he fell in love
and we just knew it was um the home for us yeah i was skeptical that like the second i walked in
and like looked around i'm like yep well that was easy yeah yeah and you have improv practices and
all this empty space that's in the front yeah so in the in the front room like there's there's a
lot of uh space for uh activities and uh my improv team uh as we've started to practice there so it's
been fun and if you're here in st louis make sure to check out steve's improv group and steve do you
want to tell everyone about that yeah sure it's a great time the improv shop is where we perform
uh and my team is mr mayor so come find us that's amazing and also in that same space you mentioned
that the paintings you have on display have a special significance to you yes so um
i really like old things and i think that's another reason why i like this house so much
and my grandmother actually she did so many paintings in her years but she never got
them framed she just kept them underneath her bed um and so me and my family we got all her
paintings out and we framed them all on our own and that big wall that is across from the mirror
in the main room has all of her paintings on it displayed so that's really special for me
there are probably some really interesting stories that you've heard from neighbors or other people
in the area about your house and the bar that it used to be yeah i was talking to a neighbor a
couple of houses down who he recalled he had lived here since he was a child and he remembered like
uh just being sent to get like chips or uh beer from the bar uh while i was functioning it's just
really interesting to think that it was really the little corner store here and that people utilized
it and came together here and everyone watching at home i really hope that you enjoyed this tour
it was really interesting to see how this bar has been converted into a single family residence
in all of the original features that have been maintained and cared for over the years
make sure to like comment share and subscribe i'll see you next time on this house
you