Magic Chef Mansion
Magic Chef Mansion | |
The Magic Chef Mansion in 2017 | |
| Coordinates | 38°36′46.33″N 90°14′09.98″W / 38.6128694°N 90.2361056°W |
|---|---|
| Built | 1908 |
| Architect | Ernst Janssen |
| Architectural style | French Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 80004511 |
| Added to NRHP | November 9, 2018 |
The Magic Chef Mansion or the Charles Stockstrom House, located at 3400 Russell Boulevard, is a historic house in Compton Heights, St. Louis, Missouri.[1]
History
The Magic Chef Mansion sits on a 2-acre (8,100 m2) lot, with the house itself being 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2).[2] It was built in 1908 and designed by Ernst Janssen,[3] in the French Renaissance Revival style.[4] Its construction took one year and costed $49,500 ($1.7 million in 2024).[2][5] It was built for Charles Stockstrom, president of Magic Chef, a kitchen appliance company,[6] as well as father of interior designer Eleanor Brown.[7] When finished, the house contained over 30 rooms, including a bowling alley and library.[4]
After his daughter's death – not Eleanor – in 1990, the Magic Chef Mansion was bought by Shelley Donaho – daughter of Zane Barnes, CEO of Southwestern Bell until 1989[1] – for $400,000 ($1.1 million in 2024), at an auction. She renovated it, which included fitting the kitchen with 1930s Magic Chef kitchenware,[6] as well as adding a 1950s-style telephone booth and a plaque, in memory of her father.[1] In 2006, she made additional renovations using historic tax credits.[1] As of 2016, she was mostly complete with the renovations and had rented it for events.[3] She planned to convert it to a museum.[6]
The Magic Chef Mansion holds a urinal which has been studied by art scholars. English art scholar Glyn Thompson argues that Fountain by Marcel Duchamp was actually created by Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. In 1964, Duchamp falsely claimed the urinal to be manufactured by the Mott Company, when it was actually the Trenton Potteries Company. On August 10, 2016, Thompson visited a urinal – the same make and model as Duchamp claimed – in the house's first floor unisex bathroom to measure it and note its design differences. Scholar Francis Naumann, who believes Duchamp did create it, also visited the urinal to study.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d Mannino, Fran (2016-05-18). "Magic Chef Mansion "Crown Jewel" Of Compton Hill Neighborhood". WKTimes LLC. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
- ^ a b Christensen, Julia (2015-01-22). "Dynamic People: Shelley Donaho, Looking After a Landmark". Ladue News. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
- ^ a b "Magic Chef Mansion is a true St. Louis treasure". ksdk.com. 2016-01-29. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
- ^ a b Westhoff, Ben (2022-03-30). Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic (in Arabic). Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-4795-0.
- ^ Fadem, Susan (5 April 2015). "Inside the Magic Stove Mansion". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. pp. H003. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
- ^ a b c Eby, Pat (2016-04-14). "Restoring the Magic Chef Mansion". St. Louis Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
- ^ "Collection: Eleanor S. Brown collection | The New School Archives & Special Collections". findingaids.archives.newschool.edu. Archived from the original on 2025-06-20. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ^ Staff, S. L. M. (2016-09-29). "The Magic Chef Mansion Urinal and Marcel Duchamp, Part Two". St. Louis Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-29.