St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 103

At Home ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1989-3W Historic HoBime Becomnies Elesaeiii: once Rtoe- Louis. "I would do mother's hair down here in the basement, and she so loved that," she said. When her mother died in 1982, the Wyshyvanuks started disassembling all but one of the "light housekeeping" rooms. The remaining one is something that "guests love to see.

We can't get rid of it," she said. "Perhaps our greatest chore was trying to remove all the sinks and beds and stoves from the third floor," she said. "We nearly broke our backs doing that." The third floor had been a ballroom before her mother partitioned it into rental rooms. Hood continued renting rooms for more than 20 years on all three floors and the basement. "Around the 1960s, the city demanded a fire wall be put up In the main stairway on the first floor, which would destroy the beautiful staircase," Pat Wyshyvanuk said.

"Also, the city wanted a fire escape built outside on each side of the house. "Mother and Daddy loved, the house so much they would not allow this to be done to mar their beautiful house, so they stopped renting the rooms." Today, Peter Wyshyvanuk said, he and his wife keep busy "just trying to maintain the house and keeping the 26 rooms in here clean. Most of the woodwork and stairways were never damaged, and we haven't had to do much work on them. But we've added ABOVE: A bathroom on the second floor features an old claw-footed tub. RIGHT: Peter and Pat Wyshyvanuk on the front stairs of their home on Lafayette Square.

Story by Carolyn Olson Photosby Renyold Ferguson Of th Pott-Dispatch Staff FOR MORE than two decades, a three-story home in Lafayette Square was home to day laborers. Today, it is being returned to its original splendor. The home was designed in 1895 by Theodore Link, architect of Union Station, and has been described as a textbook example of Romanesque Revival architecture. The Link family owned the house for more than 40 years, then sold it to William and Pearl Hood. The Hoods turned it into a "light housekeeping" apartment building.

"My mother and stepfather bought the house in 1938, and they converted the house into 15 rental units 12 'light housekeeping' rooms and three sleeping rooms," said Pat Wyshyvanuk, the current owner. "No 1 children or animals were allowed. Mother was a very good businesswoman clean and orderly. No rough or rowdy parties were allowed." When It comes to rooms, "light housekeeping" is a term that has fallen into disuse. "The best way I know how to explain it is to show you," she said, walking up the stairs to the second floor.

"In today's terms, it would be known as an efficiency apartment, minus a bathroom. Each 'light housekeeping' room contained its own cooking stove, refrigerator and sink, as well as a dining table and chairs, bed and dresser. Residents shared bathrooms on each floor. "Actually, this is all the space you really need. My husband and I really spend most of our time in the first floor bedroomfamily room.

I could live quite easily in a room like this today." Pat and Peter Wyshyvanuk moved to St Louis from Philadelphia in 1980 to take care of her ailing mother. Her stepfather had died in 1971. "We were retired, so there was no reason for us not to come to St. Louis and help with mother and take care of this big house," she said. Before retiring, Pat Wyshyvanuk was a beautician, so she brought along her equipment, including sinks and hair dryers, to her mother's house in St.

i jL ft Other rooms showcase her doll collection. "Our goal when we fixed up the rooms was to return this house to its original elegance when it was a one-family home," she said. Pat Wyshyvanuk hopes that one day her daughter, Billie Jean Portas, and her family will move from Maryland to live In the historic house in Lafayette Square. "And I know that she will make it even better than we have," Wyshyvanuk said. 'II I lEiLrMiMi 1 RIGHT: The Wyshyvanuks preserved one light housekeeping room, complete with cooking stove, sink and refrigerator.

BELOW: The house, which was designed in 1895. fc i 4 a few coats of paint and done a few things." Most of her mother's furniture is still in place, including antique beds, dressers, tables, linen and glassware. "I was even able to keep some of the drapes," she said. "And I found some lovely lace panels in one of her old trunks upstairs." One of her mother's silk shawls is draped over the baby grand piano In the front sitting room, which features a mirrored mantel and fireplace. Jigs 'L.

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