Before & After: A St. Louis Architect Builds a Perfect Party Pad Over a Brownfield

A decrepit gas station was once the only building on this abandoned industrial site, but one architect saw its true potential to become so much more.

For about eight years, architect William G. McCuen, Jr. would walk past an abandoned gas station two blocks from his home on his way to and from work. The 1950s-era building had sat empty for thirty years in the historic Shaw neighborhood, but something about it struck McCuen’s imagination. "It appealed to me that it was just so pathetic. Every time I’d pass it, I’d think, 'Man, that would just be a great house’," says McCuen.     

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Melissa Dalton
Dwell Contributor
Melissa Dalton is a freelance writer in Portland, Oregon, who has been writing for Dwell since 2017. Read more of her work about design and architecture at melissadalton.net.