Grove house blends old, new with a dose of art from travels and a stunning backyard

In the past year, Terrie and Arnie Robbins have taken hiking trips to Italy’s Amalfi Coast and California’s Death Valley along with jaunts to Mexico and even Makanda, Illinois, to watch the eclipse. Traveling is a bit of a hobby for them.

But at the end of the day or week or month, the place they most want to be is home.

“We like coming home,” says Arnie. “It’s perfect for us; it’s comfortable; we like being at home; we like living in the city.”

But, at about 2,000 square feet of modern sleekness, it’s a very different home than the one they owned just a few years back. For 23 years they lived in a 6,000-foot Central West End manse, decorated with lush antiques as well as eclectic pieces.

“It was like we did everything we could do there and were ready for something else,” Terrie says.

Building this new house, “was an adventure,” says Arnie. Terrie agrees: “That’s… the word we kept using, was, let’s have an adventure.”

The adventure began in 2019 when they decided to sell their CWE home. They considered moving to another city — Denver, or Santa Fe, perhaps. Both were retired from the Post-Dispatch; they could relocate anywhere. But they like St. Louis’ centrality as a hub for their travels. “Plus, we just really like it here,” says Arnie.

When thinking about their move, they realized that they were only actually living in about 2,000 square feet of space; they also realized they wanted something more modern and minimalist. They found an 1890s house in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood (the Grove) with two empty lots next to it and bought all three, eventually selling one of the lots. On the other, they built the modern addition that adjoins their historic house.

Architect Sarah Gibson, design principal at Urban Improvement Company, seamlessly integrated the brick walls and cozy spaces of the old home with the open living-dining-kitchen of the modern “shoebox,” as Terrie calls it. Architectural elements such as built-in nooks, ground-level windows and sculptural lighting are sprinkled throughout.

“She’s a wizard,” Terrie says of Gibson, who had designed houses for friends of theirs. Vestiges that remain of the old house, such as wood pocket doors, give it character. “Our architect calls these ‘traces’ — traces of the old house,” Terrie says.

But most of the building happened during the supply-chain shortages of the COVID pandemic. So, the project took much longer than expected. In fact, the couple lived down the street in an apartment for about 14 months, visiting the house often to see the progress of the build. “We sold our house, so we’d walk down here three times a day and bring doughnuts or french fries for the workers,” says Arnie.

Once the bones were ready, it was time to decorate. Throughout the house is artwork from their travels. Paintings from Mexico City, Egypt and France grace the fresh, white walls. “This house is better for art than our other house,” says Arnie. “Our other house was too big, and it got lost.

“Our neighbors call us the gallery house,” Arnie says.

To choose their art, they ask, “does it move me?” And each has veto power over the other’s choices, though they say they rarely use it. And they even have a code. If the next day after seeing a piece one of them says, “It’s haunting me,” then they know they have to get it.

Local artists find their place in the home, too. A prickly looking exclamation point sculpture by Charles Blood is in the kitchen, a series of ink drawings by Peter Manion are framed and hung in the dining area, and even a painting by 6-year-old St. Louisan Camila Ramirez, their trainer’s daughter, has a place of honor in a hallway.

But perhaps the pièce de résistance isn’t inside at all. Both the primary bedroom and kitchen open to a covered patio and stunning backyard. A trio of red spherical fountains from the Bug Store is the first thing to catch a visitor’s eye.

“We rarely sat outside at our old house. … Here we have a fan and electric heaters, so we can be here almost all the seasons,” says Arnie.

Blue glass sculptures, also from the Bug Store, and shrubs dot the rock yard. Terrie calls it her “bird dropping” yard because of the way the plants are randomly placed throughout.

At the back of the yard, along a lighted path, is an octagonal rock labyrinth, about 17 feet in diameter. “When we go to England, I always look at the labyrinths. … So in the morning, a little cup of coffee, and I come out here and go through the labyrinth.”

The labyrinth is right next to a large mural painted by St. Louis artist Peat Wollaeger. The mural is actually on the brick of the shed next door, but those homeowners are fans, and friends.

The couple downsized dramatically when they moved, keeping only three pieces of furniture from their previous house.

“It was so fun buying all new stuff,” says Terrie.

At 2,100 square feet, the house is the perfect size for them. “When we were talking to the architect, we said we just want a house that we use,” says Terrie. They got that, and much more.