Dr. George Ashe Bronson House

The Dr. George Ashe Bronson House is a 136-year-old historic house on Washington Ave in St. Louis, Missouri. It was built in 1885 for prominent local dentist Dr. George Ashe Bronson as both an office and as a residence for him and his widowed mother. Bronson lived in the house until his death in 1932. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.[1]

Dr. George Ashe Bronson House
Location3201 Washington Ave.,
St. Louis, Missouri
Coordinates38.637630°N 90.225036°W / 38.637630; -90.225036
Built1885
ArchitectPeabody & Stearns and Pierce Furber
Architectural styleLate Victorian
NRHP reference No.15000305
Added to NRHPJune 2, 2015
Dr. Bronson's house in 1886

Description

The house is a brick home in the style of the Late Victorian era with design elements from other styles popular at the time of its construction. It stands at two-and-one-half stories tall at sits at the corner of Washington Avenue and Compton Avenue. The first floor contains seven primary rooms.

History

The home was built by the Boston architectural firm Peabody & Stearns and St. Louis developers Pierce Furber in 1885. After the death of Dr. Bronson the home transferred to a trust until its purchase by a developer in 2014.

George Ashe Bronson

Bronson was a prominent local dentist. He practiced dentistry from the home and had two patents related to dentistry.[2][3]

Bronson was an avid gardener and in 1908 created a Japanese garden on the premises of the home dubbed "The Oasis".[4][5][6][7] The design of the gardens came from Shiro Miyake, a dental student at nearby Washington University.[8] Miyake came to America with the Japanese exhibit to the 1904 World's Fair and for a time was Dr. Bronson's houseman.[6][7][9] The gardens were used by patients as a distraction from painful dental procedures.

He never married and at the age of 70 Bronson died suddenly of a heart attack in October 1932.[10][7]

Renovation

In 2014 the building was purchased by Acree-Kelley LLC.[11] In 2016 the building was renovated for use as commercial offices by Hicor Group.[12][13] In 2017 the renovation work won the "Most Enhanced Award" from the Landmarks Association of St. Louis.[14]

References
  1. "NPGallery Asset Detail". npgallery.nps.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  2. Davis, George S. (1895). "The 1895 Bulletin of Pharmacy". Dental Register. 49: 44.
  3. Patent 531,093 and 531,094 "Dental napkin-holder"
  4. "A Japanese Garden in the Heart of the City". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 29, 1909. p. B1.
  5. "A Dentist's Recreation". Dental Brief: An American Journal of Dental Science. Vol. 16. Philadelphia. January 1911. p. 6.
  6. "4 Aug 1929, Page 38 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  7. "18 Oct 1932, Page 2 - The St. Louis Star and Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  8. "22 May 1909, 1 - St. Louis Globe-Democrat at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  9. "10 Apr 1935, 9 - The Park City Daily News at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  10. "Dr. Geo. A. Bronson, Rich Philanthropist, dies suddenly at 79". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. October 18, 1932.
  11. "Coolest office spaces: Bronson House renovations keep history in style". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  12. Bryant, Tim. "Contractor to move to historic St. Louis house". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  13. Ihnen, Alex (2017-03-30). "Historic Bronson Residence Gets A New Life as Hicor Group HQ (3201 Washington)". NextSTL. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  14. "Bronson House Renovation Wins 'Most Enhanced Award' from Landmarks Association of St. Louis – St. Louis Construction News and Review". Retrieved 2021-02-05.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.