Frederick A. Kennon House

This Gothic Revival style house in Carondelet is one of the only remaining examples of this style in the city. The house was originally built in 1857 for Frederick A. Kennon, who was a commissions merchant in downtown St. Louis in the 1850s, before building this house at Minnesota Ave and Dover Street. At the time of the construction of this house, Carondelet was still its own city, having been founded in 1767, and incorporated in 1832. While the city had its own business district, it was not as financially successful as St. Louis, and was often referred to as La Vide Poche, meaning “empty pockets” in French. Thus, in 1870, St. Louis was able to annex Carondelet without much pushback. After the death of Kennon in 1873, his wife lived in the house for several years until it was sold to Elias Loomis, who then sold the house to a carpenter named George Stackl. Stackl and his family then continued to live in the house until 1907, at which point the house was sold to John H. Uthoff, a realtor who would sell and buy back the house several times between 1910 and 1940. At this time, the area continued to grow after its annexation, as the urban expansion of St. Louis filled in the remaining farmland in the area in the early 20th century. When the area began to see a loss of industrial jobs, the area began to face decline, and many historic houses began to fall into disrepair. However, due to the historic significance of Carondelet, many of the structures were restored at different points over a period of many years, including this house, which was purchased and restored by an antique furniture restoration hobbyist named Larry Simon, who restored the house for his family to live in, and saved it from potential demolition. Today it remains as one of the few examples of mid 19th century Gothic Revival architecture in the city.

1940s image of the Kennon House by William G. Swekosky