The living room contains a couch with simulated snakeskin fabric seen on the back wall. Much of the art in the home is contemporary, such as the piece behind the couch. Large ottomans in the center of the room add informal seating.
In the dining room a custom blue tempest quartzite oblong table seating 12 was commissioned by Cash, who was in charge of decorating the room.
Hillary Levin, Post-Dispatch
A media room on the third floor includes a small kitchen.
Hillary Levin, Post-Dispatch
The kitchen had been updated by the previous owners, which was an important plus to the couple when they were considering whether to buy the home. While the kitchen retains the original wood cabinets in a large walk-in pantry unseen in the photo, the working chef’s kitchen pictured had been updated after a large tree fell and destroyed the original kitchen.
Hillary Levin, Post-Dispatch
The view from a small parlor is into the entry foyer and the living room behind. Seen under the chandelier is a custom-made piece of art of Tina Turner, a favorite singer of Stephanie’s.
Hillary Levin, Post-Dispatch
The front staircase to the left, and the back staircase to the right in the Gills’ home.
The view from the grand staircase to the front door is into the dining room and back to the entry. Original stained glass windows over the front door are seen behind the chandelier.
A sitting room in Cash and Stephanie Gill’s Compton Heights home, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. Photo by Hillary Levin, [email protected]
“Stephanie was living in Overland, and I was in an apartment in Clayton,” Cash Gill remembers. “She wanted to move into the city, and I wanted more green space, so we compromised, purchasing our home in Compton Heights. We have been here just under a year, but we love this neighborhood.”
Cash and Stephanie Gill moved into their historical Compton Heights home a year ago, and have since modernized the decor to fit their lifestyle. Video by Hillary Levin
The five-bedroom, 5,800-square-foot residence where they settled is a classic revival home that retains much of the original historic charm from when it was completed in 1897 for St. Louis real estate lawyer and Civil War veteran Herman Haeussler.
An elegant port cochere with four graceful brick arches remains, where it has sheltered arriving guests for 124 years. The front porch features two Ionic stone columns that match two wood columns welcoming visitors in the ornately wood paneled foyer. Throughout, the home features hardwood flooring and extravagant millwork.
On the first-floor landing of the grand staircase, a stunning 10-foot-high, three-piece stained-glass window faces west and provides myriad colors that are briefly sprinkled throughout the stairway at sunset.
The stained glass window on the second floor landing, at left, is reflected back from the wall mirror at right.
Hillary Levin, Post-Dispatch
The high ceilings and windows, and the generous room sizes seemed to swallow the couple’s furniture, and they knew immediately they needed decorating help. “It looked like Barbie doll furniture,” Stephanie remembers.
Kourtney Smith and Mike Wyrock of Nistenhaus Design were hired purely based on the firm’s internet site. “I liked what I saw, and we did not want a décor with everything being a subtle tone and matching,” Stephanie says. “We told Kourtney to push us out of our comfort zone, and she did. We could not have done it without her.”
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