Yesterday the city of Maplewood demolished the house at 7262 Lyndover Place, that had been in various states of disrepair for more than 10 years, according to the city.
According to the city memo, (see a PDF Lyndover 7262 Demo Memo), the city held numerous nuisance hearings on the property over the years involving multiple property owners as the site has changed hands over the years. Each time the property changed hands, the city had to start the nuisance process over again. The house and garage have been in poor condition and an eyesore for nearby residents for so long that the last time a resident was able to occupy the site was October 2011.
See also: More photos of house demolished on Lyndover, taken by neighbor as it came down
According to St. Louis County records, it was built in 1924, and in 2023 was appraised at $103,500.
The demolition was done by the lowest of four bidders, at $17,800.
My ex-husband grew up in the house at 2610 Roseland, right around the corner from this house. All 3 houses on that corner I believe had the same floor plan. There were originally both a front porch and a back porch. I believe the back porch was elevated and used for living space. On their house the back porch rotted and was remover so it didn’t fall off. The front porch sank and was removed. They modified their house to have stairs to the attic space which was used as an additional bedroom. The basement had something like a 12 foot ceiling, but was only about 1/2 paved on the floor. That house does have a tiny side yard, but with a few large dogs there was no grass. They owned a lawn mower, but I never understood why, a weed eater would have been enough. I had no idea till I read this article the age of those houses. These were the original tiny houses. Five people, three generations, lived in that house. They had the absolute minimum, but it was an upgrade from the flat they had lived in in South St. Louis, previously.
In the over two years that I’ve lived in Maplewood, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a house that barely had a front yard and didn’t have a back yard.
I think before we make any considerations to let someone build something in its place, we should think about making it like one of those small parks like in Kirkwood that’s on a street corner or see which of the neighboring properties doesn’t have a yard and would be interested. (I might be kidding about that last part. I’ll have to take a look at the County Parcel Viewer Map.)
Any plans for the property now? It seems to me the houses right around there were a bit crowded. I’ve thought the house right behind it should have been where the backyard to the house that was torn down. Wondered if it was a mother-in-law’s house at one time.