Many homeowners don’t dare tackle the planning and research required when purchasing a teardown, but a St. Louis couple knew a teardown was just what they were looking for as they made the move from central St. Louis County to the hub of the city in Clayton.  Previous residents of University City and Creve Coeur, Clayton appealed to them for its proximity to the Metrolink, restaurants and retail.

Serve up refreshing drinks, savory snacks and fireside s’mores on a summery tray. The perfect accessory to brighten up your outdoor living space, trays can be functional to serve or decorative for an ottoman or table.

one: Courtly check serving tray, by MacKenzie-Childs, available at B. Davis Design.

two: Copper tray, available at The Porch.

It’s a bright, breezy day, but the chickens are nervous. A hawk’s screech is stressing them out, far more so than the blowtorch roar or cement mixer growl that usually booms from Marci Davis’ workshop. We drop everything to guide the hens to safety, and I can’t help but notice the metaphor. Whether we’re talking about her unique art medium, “Ferrocement Faux Bois” or her agitated poultry, Davis is singularly, fiercely focused on preserving nature’s beauty.

In business for more than 15 years, Green Guys specializes in personalized landscape and hardscape design, installation and maintenance, as well as home construction and remodeling, pool design and property management.

Marc Del Pietro doesn’t like to be the guy who buys up the best tomatoes at the farmers market. And much of the time, he sources all the tomatoes and other foods he needs for his restaurants straight from the farmers.

Yet, when the need arises, he’ll hit a local growers’ market and stand in line with the rest of us. He knows that the people queued up behind him might be planning the week’s gazpacho or Caprese salad or panzanella. He feels bad about what he’s about to do. And then he asks for every last tomato.

Set on nearly two acres that were once part of the World’s Fair site, the majestic, all-brick multistory was built in 1925 and already had undergone several renovations before attracting the attention of Steve Katz six years ago.  

Steve is a St. Louis attorney, born and raised in Belleville. His wife Bonnie’s retail career brought her to St. Louis from Virginia in 1989, and their 22-year marriage has been characterized by extensive international travel, a zest for entertaining and a fascinating variety of mutual and individual interests.