5 Most Popular Architectural Styles in Ladue

Just 20 minutes from downtown St. Louis, the suburb of Ladue is a haven for families looking for tree-lined streets, friendly neighborhoods, and top-tier dining and entertainment.  Famed architects like William Bernoudy — a student of Frank Lloyd Wright — Eames & Young, and Harris Armstrong have put their mark on St. Louis and its surrounding towns. With all that talent placed into one city, it’s no wonder there’s such a variety of stunning architectural styles to discover. So if and when you’re looking at Ladue real estate for your family, what types of architectural styles can you expect to see? Keep reading to discover five of the most popular.

As their name suggests, colonial-style buildings were first introduced to America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Since then, the style has come to hold a uniquely American and New England feel, though it’s a popular design choice in many parts of the country. Ladue homes for sale in the colonial style will often be two or three-story residences built from brick, with pitched roofs usually featuring gables or windowed dormers that look out to a perfectly maintained lawn.

The facade is most often flat and modest in ornamentation, with a front door set beneath a pediment. Many colonial homes have an efficient, symmetrical interior design with an entry-way stairway that leads to the second level. Rooms on the upper floors are often placed along a hallway, while rooms on the ground floor surround the large, open foyer. All in all, colonial homes are beautiful pieces of Ladue real estate.

 

The Beaux-Arts style grew in popularity in America from the late 1800s into the 1920s, brought over by American architects who trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in France. Typically, Beaux-Arts homes or commercial properties feature beautiful, intricate carvings or statues. Often, they’ll have columns, pilasters, and stunning interior molding as well, though not always. Regardless, pieces of St. Louis and Ladue real estate in the Beaux-Arts style tend to be large, stately, and effortlessly elegant.

Aside from Ladue houses for sale, Beaux-Arts architecture can be seen in places like the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Central Library. The Missouri History Museum also features this style and highlights classic Beaux-Arts stonework and straight, symmetrical design.

Amidst the French influence of the Beaux-Arts style, the Tudor style provides a charming English alternative in Ladue real estate. Tudor homes grew in popularity in the early 20th century and were built to reflect the architectural fashions of 15th and 16th-century England. Tudor revivals are instantly recognizable by their striped appearance. Typically, the top halves of these homes are designed with half-timber stripes made by alternating between logs and strips of stucco. This striking look gives Tudor revivals a lovely English cottage feel that pairs perfectly with a backyard garden of wildflowers. Alongside the half-timbering, Tudor revivals also have high-pitched roofs, and multiple overlapping gables are common. Chimneys are another key feature, as are tall, narrow windows set against the home’s brick or stone lower half.

As some of the most popular home styles in the 1980s and 1990s, Prairie- and ranch-style homes are still among the more common sorts of homes seen in Ladue real estate. Pioneers of the prairie and ranch styles wanted to move away from what they thought were over-the-top, ornate Victorian-style homes. As a result, prairie- and ranch-style homes are generally more modestly decorated and feature lengthy, open-space floor plans. These homes tend to be long and low and built from stucco, wood, or brick. The roofs often hang over these houses’ edges for added shade on their front porch. Many prairie- and ranch-style homes also strive to connect their tenants to nature, featuring sliding glass doors leading from the back of the house to a porch or backyard. In Ladue and its surrounding neighborhoods, homes are often a blend of classic prairie and ranch design with additional arts and crafts elements.

The most modern Ladue homes for sale are sleek, simple, and geometric. Though initially a style introduced in the mid-1900s, modern- or mid-century architecture has boomed in popularity in recent years thanks to homeowners rediscovering its minimalistic yet functional design. Modern homes were originally built to give homeowners a sense of bringing the outdoors inside. During industrialization in post-war America, early contemporary designers wanted to create homes that felt disconnected from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Mid-century architects decided to strip things down by rejecting the larger, more ornate styles like Queen Anne, Greek Revival, and Italianate that dominated the first half of the 20th century.

Now, modern Ladue homes for sale still feature the floor-to-ceiling windows of their original counterparts. They connect their tenants to the outdoors by being designed to let in as much natural light as possible. Their geometric, asymmetrical designs can’t be missed and provide an endearing, nostalgic element to the home.

In contrast to modern homes, which were either built during the latter half of the 20th century or constructed in that specific style, contemporary styles are more reflective of what architects are designing right now. They can be more eclectic, combining features from several architectural styles. And they’re often created with the environment in mind, whether that means they’re built from recycled materials or equipped with state-of-the-art technology that reduces energy use and promotes sustainability.

Altogether, Ladue is a melting pot of architectural styles reflective of its home city, St. Louis. Though luxury homes and apartments can feature a variety of stately Georgian and Beaux-Arts structures, many newer constructions are cropping up in Contemporary designs. But no matter what style of Ladue real estate you’re looking for, real estate expert Mike Knoll is an expert in the St. Louis area. Get in touch with Mike today if you’re ready to find your next home in Ladue.