Soulard Station
Last weekend we attended a small wedding held at a unique location: Soulard Station. Once a Sinclair gas station back when historic Route 66 was the road through St. Louis, it has been renovated and is now a wonderful small event space surrounded by surprisingly lush gardens.
I focused on the gardens, but visit their website or do a Google image search on "soulard station" and you'll find plenty of images of the building itself. Let's take a quick look around...
This combo of conifers was to the left of where the ceremony took place, so I stood looking at it for quite a while:
I'm thinking that either of these would look great in my garden, replacements for my fernspray cypress which is now a bit too sparse for my tastes.
Plenty of color...
...and who doesn't love Alocasias?
Or big rusty sculptures?
Fantastic!
Things were a little bit weedy, but that's forgivable for an early August garden in St. Louis. Who wants to be out there weeding when it's so hot?
The trees and shrubs have been there long enough to give a great sense of privacy, even though the highway is so very close (elevated and glimpsed in some of these photos)
Lots of little nooks to explore -- perfect for a leisurely wedding reception stroll!
You can see a glimpse of the west side of the building here:
What's the deal with that pole in the middle of the image?
It's a bird feeder! This garden is a little oasis in an old urban neighborhood!
The ferns had a bit too much sun exposure...
...but this was a great choice for softening the brick wall:
There was a bit of water too:
The only real problem in this garden was this little patch of flagstones...
...which were much too uneven, especially for people walking in formal footwear.
Here's a photo I found (at this Flicker page) of the station in its previous life:
I believe that image is attributed to the Soulard Restoration Group.
This garden was a pleasant surprise!
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That is lovely! There was an old station like that just a couple of blocks away from us. I envisioned something like this, or maybe my own nursery. Sadly it was torn down and the lot is still empty.
Nice plant combos in this garden. The rusty sculpture (a giant gras hopper?) is awesome! What do think it the climber on the brick wall? Wonderful color choice.
It's so cool when interesting old buildings are restored/repurposed like this instead of being torn down. Beautiful garden with some very nice plant combinations but you're right, those uneven flagstones aren't the best for walking on when wearing high heels. You might want to consider wearing flats next time you go:)
Very nice, but I think your garden would work just as well as an event venue!
I love spaces like that connect the past to the present--and have great landscaping. Very nice to see, and a unique place for a wedding.
Loree: I think old service stations are some of the best buildings for repurposing. Sad they tore "yours" down.
Peter: almost broke a heel! ;)
Denise: if only I had more flat areas... But don't think I could deal with wedding day pressures!
Gerhard: I forgot to mention that they have old photos of the service station indoors -- nice connection for sure!