Castle Ballroom Saint Louis is Added to the National Register for Historic Places

Nomiantion and Summary Below Provided by:

Lynn Josse
Public History Consultant
(314) 229-0793

Built in 1908 as Cave Hall, the venue was designed as a dance hall and
dancing academy. The owners, Cornelius Ahern and Herman Albers, built the hall
when their previous venue closed. Cave Hall became one of the major venues for social
dancing and danceinstruction in St. Louis prior to the dawn of the Jazz Age. By the 1930s,
changing tastes in music and the nature of social dancing had transformed the city’s dancing scene
into one thatwas driven by jazz bands rather than dance orchestras, and the renamed Castle
Ballroom hosted many of the most famous acts of the 1930s and 1940s. Located at the edge of St.
Louis’ storied Mill Creek Valley neighborhood, the Castle became one of the only traditionally“white” halls toallow black customers. As the Castle transitioned into a black venue, it became one of only a
few major halls that catered to an African American clientele. Since the Mill Creek Valley
neighborhood was demolished almost in its entirety beginning in 1959, the Castle is one of the
few extant buildings with significant associations to that community.

Here's the link to the Castle Ballroom nomination:
http://www.dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/11000024.pdf

Preservation Research Office-Publishes Blog About Castle Ballroom Saint Louis

Before I got the listing to sell the Castle Ballroom, curently listed FOR SALE one of my favorite bloggers published a post about it going up for nomination.

http://preservationresearch.com/2010/10/cass-bank-castle-ballroom-nominated-to-national-register/

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.

Sugar Loaf Mound Sale Has been Completed

Sugar Loaf Mound in Saint Louis was sold to it's new owners on August 1, 2009. The Osage Nation Tribe has purchased the property for the purpose of historical preservation and possibly a cultural center. It was always the wish of the previous owners to pass this property on to someone that was interested in its preservation. The buyers and sellers were very cooperative with one another and sailed towards a smooth closing to benefit all. The mound sold for $235,000.

We lowered the price by 50K

Sugar Loaf Mound's price has been lowered to $350,000. We expect to have more traffic as a result.

Urban Review STL gets in on the action

Famed Saint Louis blogger Steve Patterson decided to toss in his thoughts on the mound http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/?p=4359. Steve is my co-agent on another historic property, South Side Tower. I have no idea how I fell into the niche of listing properties that are on the National Register for Historic Places, but I love it! South Side Tower is the art deco gem once known as the South Side National Bank Building at Grand and Gravois.

The old building has been turned into 13 luxury condos by The Lawrence Group. There are only 5 remaining units in the building. I believe that this building has some of the most unique and spectacular views of Saint Louis City. To view some great pictures taken by another Saint Louis blogger click this link http://www.romeofthewest.com/2008/11/view-from-top.html

South County Hoosier writes about mound house

Another link just popped up about the mound. I would like to meet this person......Most people that write about the mound I have met or know who they are. Did you come to the open house? Shoot me an email....I would love to get you in there and take a look at the view.

http://socohoosier.blogspot.com/2008/11/sugar-loaf-mound-house.html