Accidental Gal for the Job

I am not sure how I became the Real Estate Agent who seems to get Saint Louis' "challenge" properties that just so happen to be on the National Register of Historic Places, it just seemd to fall in my lap. True, I have only really had 3 listings on the Register up until this point, and only successfully have sold one (so far). That is besides the point, kinda. My goal is to start moving more into the marketing, selling and preservation of these properties as a sub-niche is you will. After spending over a year on Sugar Loaf Mound, I think I can handle just about anything.

So here is the story:

One day, sitting at my old RE office I picked up the phone and it just so happened to be someone wanting to list their property. I was excited, I mean really excited. It is what every junior agent dreams of, getting the opportunity to list a property off of an office call. However, I don't think that I knew what I was getting myself into. The owner's daughter on the other end of the line, was wanting me to interview for selling Saint Louis' Last Remaining Prehistoric Native American Mound. How in the heck do you sell something like that? How do you come to a value? I mean, the house sitting atop the mound was probably worth $50,000. How much value did the mound itself hold? Does it's value increase because it was the last one? What made it vauable? Who would buy it? What would they do with it?

Nervous and a bit scared I took my broker with me. Truth be told, I don't think he was much up for the challenge (at the time) and was a bit puzzled himself. Not liking to say, "NO" he agreed to let me take the listing because I was chomping at the bit to dig into the history.

I allowed the owner set the price, and I went to work on Google-ing, researching and making phone calls.  I soaked up all I could from the owners, neighbors, websites, archaeologists, the people at Cahokia Mounds, Landmarks Saint Louis, the National Registry Nomination and the list goes on.

Armed with all my info I had to now discover how to market the property. I mean my previous broker was a marketing whiz, but all the knowledge he had previously shared with me was how to sell residential property, and do it well. However, who in the hell is looking to buy a MOUND on Zillow? Survey says, "They're NOT".

In cases like this one it is best to contact all the historical preservationists and press you can. People can't buy what they don't have an awarenss of. The public will not help preserve what they are not aware of. Saint Louis' historical sites & properties are disappearing at an alarming rate. Luckily for me, there are TONS of people interested in a MOUND. I answered more phone calls, delt with special interest groups, Native American Ceremony Groups, Politicians, Press, TV crews, Preservation Groups, Native American Tribes , Bloggers & New Age Groups than you could shake a stick at. The open house had close 150 people through it.

SIDE NOTE: did you know that once information about a mound goes public you have to watch the property for looters? Much like people in Egypt that dig around in tombs and steal treausres? Well, YOU DO. There are actually groups of people who do this.

So , there is how I stumbled into this whole scene. Google Sugar Loaf Mound St. Louis. I dare you. You will see what pops up.

I stand corrected...It can't always be that romantic

In an earlier post I had stated that the first owner of the Sugar Loaf House had been a river boat captain. I had gotten that information from both Walter and the next door neighbor who had lived there since a child. So, naturally when telling the history of the house to people I repeated what I had heard. Tonight I received an email from Andrew Weil of Landmarks Association Saint Louis, Inc. telling me that my information may have been incorrect.

"I have some interesting news for you regarding 4420 Ohio. It turns out that the home was built by a man named Frederick E. Adams (of Ohio) and his wife Nellie (From Arkansas). Adams was a molder at an iron foundry, not a riverboat pilot. I found them in the Gould's Red and Blue Book in 1929 and then looked them up in the 1930 census. Sorry, I know it is not as romantic as riverboat captain, but it appears to be the truth." -Andrew

Landmarks is a local non-profit that helps preserve Saint Louis' historic places through education. Andrew is a researcher there who has been very helpful with helping guide me through the history of the mound.

Who I am to change history? It was an honest mistake and I am sure that Walter and the neighbor might take issue with this news. However, for my part in this I apologize and kindly defer to the researchers. I encourage any readers of this blog that are interested in Saint Louis history and historic places to check out Landmarks' website http://www.landmarks-stl.org/

Thanks again Andrew!

Why did Walter want to live there?

I was fortunate enough to be able to talk with Walter for a bit before he left town. I was curious about why he wanted to live there. Did Walter always want to own a Native American Mound? Did Walter even know that is was a mound when he bought it? I wanted to know what the draw was for him. After all, there weren't that many neighbors and there were other houses that were much larger. So I asked, "Walter why did you want to live there?". The answer I received was a marvelous one related to more of Saint Louis' nearly forgotten history.

Walter as a young man belonged to what he called "the poor mans' rowing club". Walter had belonged to the Saint Louis Rowing Club, a club that had teams of rowers that raced competitively. These competitions were called regattas and they were held on the Mississippi River. Walter love to row and so began his love affair with the river.

When it came time for Walter to purchase a house he knew it had to be on the river. The large mansions that dotted Broadway were a little out of his price range so he went on a search. When he came across Sugar Loaf House he knew he had to have it. He approached the current owner and asked if he would like to sell. Unfortunately for Walter he wasn't quite ready to move at the time. Walter gave the man his phone number and 10 years later his phone rang with the opportunity to move to the river. Without any hesitation Walter purchase the home at 4420 Ohio in 1962 and has lived there ever since until a couple weeks ago.

Walter was told by the previous owner that he was now owner of Sugar Loaf but he didn't recognize the importance until people started showing up at his door. Walter over the years has graciously been allowing people access to the mound for various reasons, and keeping an ever watchful eye.

I tried to do some research about the rowing clubs but was unable to find much. If anyone has any information or pictures I would love to view them!

Sugar Loaf Mound:A brief history

The house on Sugar Loaf Mound has been the Strosnider family home for nearly half a century. Walter Strosnider and his wife Eileen waited nearly 10 years for the home on the river that they had always admired to become available. The Strosniders purchased the house in 1962.Since the houses construction in 1928 it has had 3 owners. The first owner was a river boat captain who had the house built into the side of the mound.

Sugar Loaf Mound is the last surviving prehistoric Native American mound in Saint Louis. Saint Louis used to have lots of mounds. In fact, it had so many mounds that it used to be called "Mound City". One by one the mounds were brought down in the interest of expansion and development. Surprisingly, the very thing that saved this mound was the very thing that brought all the others down. When Captain Adams built his house into the side of the mound so he could enjoy the best views of the river he prevented it's likely demolition.

The mound is probably 1,000 or more years old. There is much speculation about what the mound was used for. Some say it was a signal mound, while others say it was used for a temple or burial. Whatever the original use was it is beautiful and so are the views.

I encourage people to come view this property while it is on the market. This may be the only time for another 50 years that you will be able to take in the scenery from the top of this mound. The first open house open to the public will be November 9, 2008 from 12-4 pm.

This blog will be updated with more rich stories and history about the mound, its owners, and Saint Louis history. Please keep checking back!