HISTORY
1843
Charles Loveland Tucker acquired the land
at 4708 South Broadway. The property
consists of a 1½ acre parcel that sits seven
stories above the Mississippi River on a
limestone bluff. Tucker later gave a right of
way to the railroad to cross his land at the
foot of his limestone bluff between the bluff
and the river where they laid train tracks.
These tracks were later used to transport
hundreds of workmen to the docks in the
southeastern part of Carondelet where they
built gunboats and steamboats for use in
the Civil War.
These tracks
are still
active today.
St. Amant
Michau
constructed a
shot tower
on the
furthest
protruding
point of this very bluff edge. The shot tower is a concrete
structure from which molten lead would be dropped in small
quantities. As the lead fell, it would turn into a small sphere and
begin cooling before dropping into a barrel of water at the base
of the bluff wall. These hardened lead spheres would then be
extracted and used as lead shot (bullets) for the guns of that
period. The shot tower still exists on the properties’ bluff edge
today.
1849
Charles Loveland Tucker built the first portion of a house on the property that was modified
and added to for years.
1858
Charles Loveland Tucker gave a right of way to the Iron Mountain Railroad to hang a train
station on the side of his bluff. In a pictorial review of American railroad stations from 1831 to
1920, the author nominates Tucker’s station “as the most unusual of all suburban stations.” A
picture of the station was used in an advertisement for the American National Bank
accompanying the picture were the statements “this must be the most unusual station ever built”
and “the south St. Louis bluff side station was unlike
any other – before or since!”)
1907
Fredrick and Emile Hoffman purchased the property
from Charles Loveland Tucker
At the Hoffman’s death the property was willed to
their daughter, Eleanor Walz and her husband
Herman.
The Tucker, then Hoffman, then Walz home was
the largest riverboat gothic mansion on mansion
row. The Home stood 5 stories to the east (facing
the Mississippi river) and 3 stories to the west
(facing Broadway).
1979 – late summer
Fire destroyed the then vacant Walz home beyond
reasonable financial repair.
1982
The Walz mansion was razed.
CURRENT TIMES
On October 9, 2000, Mark Widmann bought the 1
½ acre parcel of land from the Walz Family. Mark
did the initial design of his home in his computer
using a home design software program. Mark then
hired one of the top architects; custom
homebuilders; lighting, landscape and interior
designers in the area to bring his initial design to
life. Over the 25 year period between the razing
of the burnt Walz home and the purchase of the
land by Mark, more than 100 trees intertwined
with vines and poison ivy had grown on the site of
the old home. (picture 1) These trees were
cleared to make way for the new home that was
placed in almost the exact location as the Walz
home, which was built more than a century and a
half before.
After Mark’s home was complete, Mike Miller landscape designer, horticulturist and radio
celebrity, selected more than 15,000 trees, shrubs and plants that were added to the property. These new
plantings, along with the old growth trees that
were saved, create an acre and a half of beautiful
landscape without 1 blade of grass to cut.
Ken McKelvie, a top lighting designer, spun his
magic by selecting lighting fixtures that
beautifully illuminate the house as well as the
homes’ extensive artwork collection. Some
fixtures are works of art themselves while others
add whimsy. Dangling from cables in many parts
of the home one can find light fixtures consisting
of planes, parachutes, acrobats, and fireflies all
adding their own style of light.
The home has tall glass doors across both levels
of the back of the house which face the river. This
allows each room to have an incredible view of
the river as well as the neighboring state of
Illinois. It also gives each room access to the
more than 4000 square feet of decks and patios that terrace from the house to the bluff’s edge. A portion
of the upper deck cantilevers over the support
system below and reaches toward the river with a
V shaped point. From this location on the deck
one has the feeling of being on the bow of a ship,
a design feature of architect Tom Cohen. The
deck railings were custom designed and built by
the artist Mark Bunch. The zigzag pattern of the
steel spindles, with their points aiming down
river, gives a sense that the railings are flowing in
the same direction as the river.
The largest of the patios was built along the
bluff’s edge and is more than 1100 square feet.
The patio follows the contour of the bluff and ends
at one of the only shot towers left in St. Louis.
The new patio was poured of exposed aggregate
concrete and placed in the exact same
configuration as the flag stone patio that was laid more than 100 years before. With the river to the east,
the 150-foot long patio extends to a serpentine wall to the west that was also laid more than 100 years
before. This original limestone wall stands on the average 3-½ feet tall – a perfect height for sitting and
enjoying the view. In the center of the length of the more than 175-foot long wall is a grill built into a
limestone chimney. The original grill had long ago rusted away, its remnants removed and a custom
stainless grill was constructed and fitted back in the same space as its predecessor.
AMENITIES
One dining room has a shattered glass tabletop
resting on three art stands and can seat 12. A
second dining room can seat 72.
The home has 3 ½ kitchens that were outfitted
with restaurant grade equipment and a 90 second
dishwasher. The kitchens have more than 70
running feet of counters made from wood,
stainless steel, marble and granite.
There is one fireplace in the lower level as well as
one on the main level. The chimney stacks from
the fireplaces exit the roof of the house side by
side, the portion of the stacks above the roofline
were artistically finished to resemble two riverboat
steam stacks. (see Artega photo) The stacks tower more
than forty feet in the air and are clearly visible by the
river traffic below - paying homage to a style of
transportation seldom seen today.
A state of the art audiovisual system was installed with
speakers placed throughout the house, on the decks and
patios, on the bluffs edge, as well as above the driveway
to welcome guests as they approach the house. The
system allows for cordless microphones to be used as
well as allowing a musician the ability to distribute the
music from his or her instrument through the speakers.
The home has 6 bathrooms, one a little more interesting than the next – conceived in the mind of Don
Occhi, the owner of Occhi Interior Design
Solutions.
The pool bath has walls made of diamond plate
wainscoting for the lower 4 feet and mirrors
covering the rest of the walls to the 10’ ceiling.
This bathroom has a black granite sink top, bright
red ceiling, ship lights to see by and a mini rain
showerhead.
The two guest suite bathrooms also have black
granite sink tops and mini rain showerheads.
These restrooms supplied with linen hand and
bath towels monogrammed with the words
HOTEL WIDMANN.
The lady’s ½ bathroom has a floor made from
glass tiles imported from Austria and a matching
color glass sink that floats on the wall. The toilet
does not sit on the floor but floats on the wall and
can be flushed by simply sitting back. The round
mirror above the sink has light all the way
around, perfectly lighting a lady’s face with no
shadowing - great for the occasional makeup
touch up.
The master suite bathroom has porcelain tile
on the floor, around the Jacuzzi tub and on
the custom shower walls that rise 10’ to the
vaulted shower ceiling - also finished in the
same tile. This 32 square foot shower has
two windows that allow one to watch the
river activity while showering. The wall that
separates the shower from the bathroom is
one 64 square foot piece of glass that was
sandblasted to create a tick-tack-toe grid.
This bathroom has a slate sink top with a
trough sink and a pot and pan filler faucet.
The restroom off the bathroom has a maple
cabinet topped with the same slate and a
floating toilet.
The 12’ bar in the lower level is topped with
maple flooring and faced with aluminum
barn roofing. Under the bar is a commercial
beer cooler – the closet to the side houses a
commercial ice machine
Just beyond the bar, past the pool bath and
through the sliding glass door is an 18’ long
4’ wide 4’ deep – some people call it a hot
tub some call it a pool. This unit has two
separate compartments – the larger side
consists of 80% of the tub and is heated
with a 250,000 btu gas heater, the other side heated with an electric heater. The two separate
heating systems allows one to heat the two different sides to different temperatures, or in the
summer one can choose to not heat one side at all. There is a recessed cooler and trash can in
the deck on either side of the tub, allowing one to access a beverage and discard it without
leaving the pool.