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, United States.[1]
History
[edit]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 cost $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 a different daughter of Stockstrom died in 1990, the family sold the mansion to Shelley Donaho[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, Zane Barnes, who was CEO of Southwestern Bell until 1989.[1] In 2006, Donahoe made additional renovations using historic tax credits.[1] As of 2016, she was mostly finished with renovations and rented the mansion 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. According to Thompson, Duchamp falsely claimed in 1964 that the urinal was manufactured by the Mott Company, when it was actually produced by 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 it.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Mannino, Fran (2016-05-18). "Magic Chef Mansion 'Crown Jewel' Of Compton Hill Neighborhood". West End Word. 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.
- ^ "The Magic Chef Mansion Urinal and Marcel Duchamp, Part Two". St. Louis Magazine. 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
