Renovating a historic structure takes a contractor who is both left-brained and right-brained, analytical and artist, pragmatist and dreamer. As specialists in historic renovations, Ladd Suydam Contracting demonstrated all those attributes in a full remodel of an 1880s brick beauty in Benton Park.

Sometimes, it pays to wait—especially when hunting down your ultimate dream home. After a two-year search involving multiple options and communities, St. Louis couple Wendy and Mark Gellman still couldn’t find the features and feel they were looking for. But things started to click when they heard about the newly anticipated vision for downtown Chesterfield and saw previews of the Waterfront at Wildhorse Village. “Once we saw the plans, we could not unsee them,” says Mark.

The journey to their dream back yard began with the homeowners of this Foristell garden visiting an almost-complete Bauer Falls project. Originally looking to install a small water feature on their property, the couple was blown away by the mountain stream Bauer Falls was constructing. Quickly dropping the idea of a small feature, they gave Bauer Falls complete creative control to transform the area around their home into natural falls.

At-Home Harvest

Missouri’s climate allows cold season vegetables to continue growing through the end of October. Plots sown in late August have the ability to last through Halloween depending on the weather. If you’re interested in keeping the plants growing through the cold season, greenhouses, cold frames or containers can help extend growing time. Since these vegetables are in season, they’re built to grow in cooler temperatures and don’t do well in excessive heat.

On the walls of Carolyn and Rick Dames’ bar area, you’ll see a young Lucille Ball and Judy Garland, along with many other stars of the early 20th Century.

Carolyn found the autographed celebrity photos about 25 years ago in the basement of her family home. When the couple recently remodeled and moved into a different condo unit in their building, Carolyn found the perfect placement for the photos on the bar area walls. “I have treasured them since (finding them) and have created special spaces for them in our last three homes,” she says.

In 1878, near the town of Malta Bend, a small city about 2.5 hours from St. Louis, architect John Daniel Walters, a Swiss immigrant from Berne Switzerland, built a home and impressive barn on the Henry Blosser Estate. But by 2014, both the massive mansion and barn were almost in ruins.