Loving: A St. Louis Firehouse

Heather and Aaron, together with their Great Dane Mojo, live in St. Louis (by way of Kansas City) – and they just bought a firehouse. A Firehouse! They’ll tell you all about it on their blog, A Fire Pole in the Dining Room (you’ll be hooked!), but how about a bit of an introduction from them first?

We were so excited when Kim and Scott asked to share a bit about what we love about our firehouse – but, oh, yeah, we should probably back up. Hi! We’re Aaron and Heather. We live in a firehouse and blog about it over at A Fire Pole in the Dining Room. While there are a lot of challenges to make this space our home (hello 5+ years of renovation in our future), we absolutely LOVE the firehouse.

First and foremost we love that it’s different. (Shocker, right?) When we got married we thought we wanted what everyone does: a house in the suburbs with a yard and a dog. Turns out we only wanted the dog part of that equation, and we’d rather live in a more modern dwelling in the city. Sadly, that revelation came after we bought a cookie cutter house in a far flung suburb of Kansas City. When we finally sold (thanks, crummy real estate market) and made the move to St. Louis, we didn’t want to get stuck in something traditional or near a suburb. Still, we were realistic that we wouldn’t get the alternative home of our dreams on our modest middle-class budget. When we found the firehouse the stars seemed to align. It needed work, but not major system overhauls. It was under our budget, so we would have extra money to do some very necessary immediate repairs, like replacing all of the bricked-over windows on the first floor.

We started to whisper things like “dream home” and “forever house” and those became synonymous with “the firehouse.”

This particular building was such a stand out because of the mix of character and blank slate-ness. It sounds like an oxymoron, but surrounding the details that scream “this was a firehouse” are huge walls, high ceilings and possibility. We can’t wait to restore the character pieces, like the original firehouse doors and the awesome bathroom.

We’re equally excited to inject each space with our white box/modern/industrial aesthetic, which is starting to come together in the garage turned photography studio.

Another reason we love this place so much was a happy discovery after we moved in. Despite the fact that we’re square in the middle of the city, sandwiched between the St. Louis arts district, a major university and a neighborhood filled with some of the best restaurants in the Lou, we’ve found our piece of the block to be a peaceful oasis. You can lay on our patio (literally, because we don’t have furniture for it yet…), close your eyes and imagine you’re somewhere deep in the woods thanks to the myriad of birds and lack of city noise. We inadvertently landed in a spot that offers up in equal portions: access to everything we like about city life and a tranquil spot to relax and recharge (especially once we get our fence finished.)

Thanks to Kim and Scott for inviting us to share a little bit about the firehouse we love and call home. We can’t wait to see more pictures of their space and trade renovation stories (and post renovation project drink recipes. If that’s not a thing, we’re totally starting it.)

Want to see where they go from here? Find them at A Fire Pole in the Dining Room. Thank you, Aaron and Heather!