A Jeffersonian Revolution in Homes
What would St. Louis have done without Thomas Jefferson, the nation’s third president? He bought the Louisiana Territories, and St. Louis became the “Gateway City.” The (Thomas) Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and its world-famous arch have put the city on world maps. Now the legacy of Mr. Jefferson, a talented architect, has expressed itself again.
This time, it is his architectural style that is on display at the Enclave Bellerive, the CF Vatterott Construction Company’s new gated community adjacent to the Bellerive Country Club at Ladue and Mason Roads in Creve Coeur. The Lawrence Group, under the guidance of Greg Vatterott, president of CF Vatterott, has created the Enclave’s design reflecting Jefferson’s vision for the new American republic: a consistently elegant ensemble of buildings, distinctive in their style and taste.
The Enclave’s masonry residences boast a dominant central core with wings of smaller scale to each side. Meticulously detailed porticos, serpentine brick walls, round and half-round windows, domes, and carefully detailed colonnades all reflect elements of the Jeffersonian style and are enhanced by the beauty of warm 1028 Old Tumble brick from Richards Brick (stone caps: Earthworks, masonry supplies: Raineri Building Materials). With residential price points starting in the mid-one million dollar range, CF Vatterott –which has been building locally since 1919 – hired Spencer Brickwork and its team of outstanding union craftsmen, members of Bricklayers’ Union Local Number One of Missouri, to ensure an impeccable quality of masonry construction. When completed, the community will contain 55 homes on 44 acres.
Even before completion, the project has been receiving national and local acclaim. The Enclave won the “Best in Class” award in the Community Design category of the 2007 Brick in Home Building Awards competition sponsored by the national Brick Industry Association. As a winner, the Enclave is featured in the December issue of Builder magazine.
In October, the project received three awards from the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (HBA). The Enclave’s Virginia model was the West St. Louis County winner for Outstanding Home/ Single Family Detached, while the Charlottesville model was the “Professional’s Choice” winner. In addition, the development won for “Outstanding Site Plan.” Mr. Jefferson would have been pleased to learn that both model homes at Enclave Bellerive have earned certification under the “Green Building Initiative” of the HBA. The models became only the second and third homes in metro St. Louis to earn this distinction. As illustrated by the award-winning reception these Jeffersonian-like designs are garnering, the genius of Thomas Jefferson is once again benefiting the St. Louis area. His skill as an architect has helped make the Enclave Bellerive what might be called “a revolutionary development.”