ST. LOUIS • Beatrice Burt has a favorite memory of the home she bought for $1.

“The basement was crowded, the upstairs was crowded, the whole side of the street was lined with cars,” said Burt, 71, smiling broadly as she recalled hosting a big family reunion when she was a young woman.

Burt said she was thrilled to show off her first home, a one-story brick bungalow in the Walnut Park East neighborhood.

Sold in 1978 by the city, 5506 Gilmore Avenue was move-in ready. But with the help of her father, Burt replaced the kitchen tile, bought new bathroom fixtures, did minor electrical work and decorated. In the first five years, Burt estimated she put about $10,000 worth of work into the property.

She lived in the house for 15 years, but after she became ill and then had to take care of her aging parents, she allowed relatives to stay in her home. The house has since been torn down, and a church uses the lot for parking.

Burt, who now lives in Hamilton Heights, said she still considers herself fortunate.

“It was definitely a good house, and I was a single individual so it was ample space,” she said.