The Magic Chef Mansion

Built in 1908 by a founder of the American Stove Co., this grand Beaux-Arts house became an irresistible project of the heart.

This gorgeous 1908 house in St. Louis gets a proper restoration.

Ta fairytale castle he stupefying of towers, spires, house and beckoned terra-cotta like ornament. The French Renaissance-style mansion sat in its own two-acre park in the heart of St. Louis. A for sale sign stood in front. • Shelley Donaho, who’d restored a handsome Victorian just half a block away, couldn’t resist taking a peek. It was like stepping back in time, because nothing had changed for more than 80 years. The house was built in 1908 for Charles Stockstrom, owner of the Quick Meal Stove Company, later renamed Magic Chef and one of the largest stove makers in the world.

After Stockstrom died in 1935, at age 83, his daughter Adda Ohmeyer lived here until her death in 1990, at age 94. Dedicated to preserving her father’s memory, she had diligently kept everything as it was. Shelley Donaho marveled at gleaming oak woodwork, hand-painted friezes, original chandeliers, leaded- and stained-glass windows, brass doorknobs, even the original castiron sink in the kitchen. From the elegant French receiving room to the basement bowling alley, the 30 rooms filled Shelley’s imagination. All the house needed, she thought, was a good cleaning.

That was 1990, and Shelley is now 29 years into the three-year restoration she so methodically had planned. The hard work started outside, with terra cotta dirty from decades of coal heat, and brick that needed repointing. Valley flashings had failed and the red-slate roof was leaking; someone had stolen all the copper downspouts. Inside, original plumbing was no longer working in many rooms; leaks had damaged the second-floor bath and a parlor below. Wiring, too, was original and unsafe, and there was no air conditioning. The staircase ceiling had buckled, and the yard, unmaintained for decades, was overgrown. Still, the masonry house was solid and sound.

Once the roof and flashings were restored, pointing the brick took four months, and then the exterior was acid washed. Asbestos pipe insulation was removed and copper plumbing installed; four new boilers replaced the original massive coal and oil boiler. The addition of geothermal heating is more recent. Electrical

systems were updated and air conditioning added. The original windows—built of old-growth timber—were stripped and reglazed, and exterior storm panels were added for efficiency and protection.

Terra-cotta balustrades on the balconies had failed. Local craftsmen disassembled them, carefully numbering each piece, then recast missing pieces that are indistinguishable from the originals. More than 30 dead trees were removed and 150 new trees added in work that brought back the property’s park-like ambiance. The handsome old carriage house got a new slate roof. contents of the interior

had been sold at a weeklong auction when Adda died in 1990. Shelley was at that auction, never suspecting she would later own the house, and bought its dining-room chairs and a table with 16 leaves, which now furnish the breakfast room. Using period photos, Shelley was able to track down many other pieces, including four Art Nouveau chandeliers, gilt furniture, and oak library chairs. She combed local auctions and antiques shops and slowly added elements compatible with the original furnishings.

The water-damaged plaster ceiling in the

Buddy, the owner’s black Lab, greets visitors at the front steps. The ABOVE Beaux-Arts mansion in French Renaissance style is built of brick and terra cotta. The oval dining room in the east tower opens off the main entry hall, seen LEFT beyond. The original painted frieze and built-in, leaded-glass china cabinets embellish the room. The oak table and chairs were made by R.J. Horner, ca. 1890.

A pair of Meeks LEFT sofas flank the ornate mantelpiece in the parlor, a complement to the room’s Rococo details. Homeowner INSET Shelley Donaho was credited as “historian, cleaning lady, sleuth, grunt, artist, painter, [and] archivist” by St. Louis magazine.

(from left) Arches, leaves, flowers, spires, and panel ornament in terra cotta. • Handsome CLOCKWISE Arts & Crafts stenciling was discovered beneath layers of paint on the entry-hall ceiling. • Ornate plasterwork on the parlor mantelpiece is emblematic of the Beaux-Arts interior. • Delicate and intricate plaster ornaments picked out in gold leaf add elegant appeal to the reception room, where glazed pocket doors allow light to stream in. • The main staircase leads upstairs from the 27-footwide, oak-paneled entry hall. All the trimwork and the ceiling stenciling are original.

(from top left) The CLOCKWISE breakfast room’s chandelier. • The library features oak woodwork, a coffered ceiling, and leaded-glass bookcases. The original chandelier was discovered in an antiques shop. Oak chairs from the house were repurchased at auction. • An original brass wall sconce illuminates a glazed wall. • The library’s stenciling and polychromed woodwork are in an Arts & Crafts mode; brass tacks are original. • Found and reinstalled: the Art Nouveau dining-room chandelier.

LEFT On the bench in the conservatory sit two Quick Meal gas room heaters; their lids come off so that a coffee pot can be put inside to warm.

ABOVE The owner bought the oak dining table that came from this house at auction—years before she would own the house. It sits in the breakfast room.