It’s a major entry point to the City of St. Louis off Interstate 55. It’s an historic landmark dating to 1853. It’s now set to emerge from years of uncertainty and vacancy with a bright future and remarkably, with its lifelong mission intact.

This is the Home of the Friendless at 4431 South Broadway in the city’s historic Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. Also known as Charless House, it will be renamed Heritage Village when completed. Already well underway, the redevelopment will have 71 total senior living units, with 47 in historic buildings on the site’s 8 acres, and an additional 24 in a new three-story addition.

Developers Hart Development, and Dalmark Group of Kansas City closed on the property late last year, purchasing it from the Charless Foundation for an undisclosed price. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2015, and awarded 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). Rosemann & Associates is the project’s architect, and Roanoke Construction serving as general contractor.

The approximately $10M redevelopment will maintain the site’s structures except for a small kitchen addition dating from the 1990s. According to the National Register application, a total of ten additions were made to the original building in 1930, 1931, 1934, 1939, 1961, 1963, 1980, and 1995.

A new addition will provide modern residential accommodations as well as an elevator that will provide access to an existing third story space. Planned are a mix of one and two bedroom units of approximately 600sf and 825sf respectively. Rents are estimated to be in the $525-$650 range.

The complex has been vacant since 2012 and it had been feared that it may be demolished. For well longer than a century, the Home of the Friendless was owned and operated by a nonprofit of the same name. In 2006 Bethesda Health Group acquired the property. At that time, the Post-Dispatch wrote that the existing nonprofit operator was finding it difficult to update the property and maintain a high level of care.

Bethesda then closed the facility in 2012, stating that despite some investments, it continued to lose money and occupancy stood at just 71 with a capacity of 116. Residents and employees were offered assistance to moved to one of Bethesda’s eight other St. Louis area facilities. With the closure, ownership reverted to the Charless Foundation.

A brief history from the Missouri History Museum:

In 1855, Ellen Gelling found herself far from home, penniless, and alone. A few years earlier, Ellen’s husband, her daughter Christina, and Christina’s husband had journeyed from their home on the Isle of Man seeking a new life in America. Ellen stayed behind with Christina’s grown daughter. When Ellen came over, she found that her husband and son-in-law had both died of fever. Christina, strained by the loss of her husband and father and saddened by her separation from her daughter and mother, broke under the emotional weight of her situation and was committed to the County Insane Asylum. Ellen’s granddaughter was able to secure a job in St. Louis, but it was not enough to support herself and her widowed grandmother. With no means of support and no skill to make a living on her own, the elderly Mrs. Gelling had little choice but to ask for assistance. With the help of a kind benefactor, Mrs. Gelling was recommended to the Home of the Friendless.

Ellen Gelling’s situation was not uncommon in the mid-19th century. Women could often find themselves alone in the world with no family or financial support. Long before the advent of Social Security or state assistance, women like Mrs. Gelling had few alternatives but to turn to charities or rely on the kindness of strangers. One such institution was the Home of the Friendless. Established by Charlotte Charless in 1853, the home was created as a place where women over 50 could find refuge and the companionship of others who shared their fate.

We’ve learned that at the Home of the Friendless, women found a clean and welcoming place to live. In return they were expected to follow a strict set of rules which were established at the time of the institution’s creation. Inmates, as they were called, were required to sweep and clean their rooms each morning; no alcohol was permitted on the premises; each was expected to contribute her time toward the good of the home either by knitting, sewing, or some other skill; and it was expected that inmates attend a religious service each morning.

While women of all nationalities and religions were accepted, rule breakers were not tolerated. The inmates were expected to respect the authority of the home’s matron, who kept a record of each inmate, including detailed biographical information and comments on her present situation. The records show that most women lived quiet lives and died peacefully at the Home, but there were a few who did not get along and were asked to leave. If the woman could prove that she had learned her lesson and could follow the rules, she would be readmitted. One such woman had done just that in 1859. Two years later, however, the matron had had enough and once again the woman was asked to leave. The matron commented in the register, “Dismissed for lying, tale bearing, and violence of temper. We hope never to be so blind and foolish as to receive her again.”

*images from the National Register of Historic Places Registration

{earliest known photo of the Home of the Friendless, late 1800s}

{Home of the Friendless, late 1800s}

{Home of the Friendless c. 1900}

{Home of the Friendless c. 1935}

Existing conditions c. 2014: