Grand Visitation Park home was set to be demolished; they saved it

Guy Slay talks about his home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis. The home was salvaged from extreme deterioration and rehabbed to historic standards. Video by David Carson, [email protected]

The exterior of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood.

What do you do with a once-imposing home built in 1909 that in 2014 had been abandoned for 10 years? What if it had a sizeable hole in the roof that had allowed rain and snow inside for a decade, rotting the wood and decaying the walls?

Would a sign reading “This building to be demolished. Please do not enter” deter you from envisioning it as your permanent residence, even though every window was covered with plywood and the lot was overgrown with weeds?

For Guy Slay, long a proponent of saving St. Louis’ irreplaceable architecture, and his partner, Robert Puricelli, it was an opportunity to rescue a once-impressive home in an area they loved.

Importantly for Slay, the Visitation Park neighborhood was composed of a resilient core of long-term residents who had steadfastly maintained their properties for decades, even as several homes nearby had fallen into disrepair.

Plus, community betterment organizations, made up of individuals committed to the values of the neighborhood, were already in place.

With neighborhood support, Slay and Puricelli were up to the challenge to turn the vacant property into their home. After a year of work by the restoration artisans Slay employs in his Mangrove Redevelopment Co., the residence emerged as a shining example of how one man’s vision can become reality. In 2015 they moved in.

As was true with all the rooms in the home, the front parlor was kept true to its original size. The intricate chandelier is one of many different chandeliers found throughout the home in almost every room.

Slay gives credit to the Landmarks Association of St. Louis and the Cultural Resources Office of the City of St. Louis that the home was still standing when he purchased it. “It was through their efforts to save it, the residence had not been demolished,” he remembers.

Not surprisingly Slay says every inch of the 4,000 square foot neglected building needed attention.

Throughout the process he retained the original footprint both inside and out. Instead of taking down walls and creating large open spaces popular in today’s homes, all but one wall remained in their original locations. So, the home is characterized by several smaller rooms on the first and second floors just as it was when originally completed.

The recessed floor in the sunroom had been covered by a false floor. The new French doors were added and a new white and gray patterned mosaic tile floor appropriate to the period when the home was built was installed, making the floor look as though it is original.

The one new wall is at the end of the living room and was added when Slay discovered a false floor on top of what was once a recessed floor. The new wall features two French doors at either end, leading down one step from the living room into what is now a southwest-facing, bright sunroom. A new white and gray patterned mosaic tile floor appropriate to the period when the home was built makes the floor look as though it is original.

“We perfectly matched all our woodwork and doors to bits and pieces we were able to recover,” Slay says.

Somehow, the central staircase located directly under where the hole in the roof had been, escaped serious damage. What may have saved it were 16 coats of lead-based paint. Slay had them stripped off before the stairway was restored to a natural dark wood finish.

Included in the renovation was the third floor, which was not previously finished. Expert craftmanship was needed to drywall the ceiling with its many intersecting surfaces. The room is used as an office.

The unfinished third-floor attic accessed through an arched doorway on the second-floor landing was converted into home office space. A custom wood staircase replaced what Slay described as “something less than a suspension bridge.”

A stucco finish on the outside walls, an attention-getting red tile roof and a rounded bay with an outside patio on top are all highlighted by tasteful landscaping.

The main stairway remained when the restoration began, even though the roof had a large gap that allowed much of the home to be destroyed by water and snow. All surfaces of the stairway were stripped of 16 coats of lead paint and restained.

Furnished with antiques Slay and Puricelli found in St. Louis shops, Oriental rugs and vintage art in antique frames, the residence could double as a museum showcasing how people were living in the early 1900s. A collection of antique crystal chandeliers hanging from the 12-foot ceilings are a focal point of many of the rooms.

Slay describes himself as being “very sentimental.” Some of his favorite pieces are a small table that belonged to his mother and two 1950 vintage electric Budweiser beer signs that had been in his parents’ rathskeller.

According to Puricelli, the home was built in 1909 for Dwight Blossom, and at that time it was adjacent to Dwight’s grandfather’s home, which had been built in 1851. “The grandfather’s home was on what is now the Soldan High School playing fields,” Slay says looking out on the perfectly manicured six acres of grass playing surface that joins his back property line. “That home was demolished in 1942.”

If it was not for the many “legacy property owners” in the Visitation Park neighborhood who have lived there for decades and have a vested interest in seeing it prosper, Slay doubts he would have undertaken the project. “They are the glue that has held this area together and made it inviting to undertake the project,” he says. “Because of them it was an easy decision to save this house and live in it.”

Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli

Ages • Slay is 64, and Puricelli is 59.

Home • Visitation Park

Occupations • Slay founded Mangrove Redevelopment Co. in 2000. The firm is a pioneer in restoring historic buildings in the city of St. Louis for both residential and commercial use. Puricelli is the executive director of Gene Slay's Girls and Boys Club Of St. Louis, providing after school and summer programs for under-resourced youth ages 6-16. Gene Slay was Guy's father.

Family • Together 17 years, the men cater to Brody, an 8-year-old beagle mix whose reign extends to every chair, couch and bed in the residence.

The exterior of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood.

The dining room of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

Pictures of their home before the rehab hang in the kitchen of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis photographed on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

The outside landscaping on the west side of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis photographed on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

A vase on a stand in the front entry of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis photographed on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

A comfortable sitting room on the first floor of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis photographed on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

The steps to the second floor of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

The kitchen was completely gutted and rebuilt, and a center island added. Subway tiles are new and in keeping with the early 1900s when the residence was built.

The first floor half bath in Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis photographed on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

The second floor hallway of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

The entry of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis photographed on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

The living room of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis photographed on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

A second floor television and sitting room in Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

An unusual carved wooden bed was found at Gringo Jones Imports in St. Louis. The intricate chandelier is one of many different chandeliers found throughout the home in almost every room. The door to the right leads out to a second-floor patio.

The finished third floor that is used as office space in Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

A guest bathroom on the second floor of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

The stairs leading to the second floor of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

The bathroom off the main bedroom of Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

A guest bedroom in Guy Slay and Robert Puricelli's home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis as seen on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

Brody, an 8-year-old beagle mix, is welcome on any flat surface in the home. Like all the rooms in the home, the bedroom walls were painted in color appropriate to the period when the home was built in the early 1900s. Several Oriental rugs are found in most rooms as seen here in one of the primary bedrooms.

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Guy Slay talks about his home on Enright Avenue in the Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis. The home was salvaged from extreme deteriora…

Guy Slay and Robert PuricelliAgesHomeOccupationsFamily