Standing in a sweaty t-shirt holding a stain sprayer, Grant Pointer doesn’t embody the typical artist mold. “It’s kind of hard to find a concrete guy who has a beret, but that’s kind of what we morphed into,” says Grant. He doesn’t need the artisan garb to design the masterpieces. His typical medium isn’t a canvas, but rather, concrete. And being in the business for almost 15 years with his company, CustomCrete, has made him a master of the craft.

Balaban’s is much more than beef Wellington and cucumber bisque, although those old favorites are very much a part of this Chesterfield restaurant with roots in the Central West End.

Diners frequently ask for dishes that were on the menu at Café Balaban, which closed in 2008, Executive Chef D. Scott Phillips says. “We get a lot of requests, and so far we’ve had remarkable luck with re-creating them.”

You can’t get more downtown than the Pointe 400 building. Situated along the Mississippi River and the Gateway Arch grounds, you are a stone's throw from Busch Stadium and the symbolic Gateway to the West. Immersed in the hustle and bustle of city living, urban dwellers are blocks from restaurants, shops, sporting venues and more.

For two homeowners, living in downtown St. Louis was a no-brainer. Both Matt Matousek and Nicholas Karidis were drawn to the energy and vibrancy of downtown living. Each takes residence in a penthouse in the Pointe 400 building.

When it came to his garden, John Moore knew what he wanted. He needed a place to decompress when he left work as a certified financial planner and senior vice president at Morgan Stanley. “I’m in an office all day long,” he explains.  “ When I leave work, I want to be outdoors. And I’m fairly high strung. I want to keep moving.”

Create a private backyard oasis or block out excess wind and noise with a privacy hedge. Planting a row of hedges will screen your yard from neighbors, the street or unwanted visitors while giving a uniform look. We asked local landscapers to share their favorite privacy hedges.

Centuries have elapsed since the first Americans settled in Missouri, in the now-quiet countryside named for its indigenous women. And, while time isn’t always kind to the people it touches, it guarded Bob Brinkmann’s dwelling, a unique stone estate connecting its inhabitants and other Osage Valley residents to their raucous, rugged and romantic pioneer past.