RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. — Seventeen years ago, Linda Yatkeman and her husband, Don, decided to move “up the hill” to a home a block away.
“The reason was this stained-glass window,” she says, motioning toward a 12-foot-tall, two-piece window depicting a classical figure of a woman feeding a bird in her flower garden that once was in a 19th century St. Louis home. “It had been leaning against a wall in our old house for 20 years, but this home had a place it could be installed. … We did have to change the previous flat ceiling to a cathedral ceiling for it to fit.”
In fact, the window is the centerpiece of the home. As guests enter, it fills the opening from the foyer into the dining room. It is also on a south-facing wall, so sunlight filters through every sunny day, reflecting diffused colors around the room that change with each passing cloud. At night the window is illuminated from behind by outside lighting.
The window has become an integral part of family functions. Thanksgiving dinners are held in front of the window, and two years ago the dining room furniture was moved out and the Yatkemans’ son was married in the room.
Installation of the window was not the only change in what had been a two-bedroom home. At the same time the garage was converted to a huge bedroom suite, and a new garage was added. The kitchen was updated, and new tile and wood floors were installed throughout the house. More recently the entire interior was painted in different tones of grays. Woodwork is brilliant white.
“This house is eclectic with a capital ‘E,’” Yatkeman says. A preference for midcentury modern chairs and lamps is mixed with antique furniture, classical paintings and pieces of whimsy that elicit a smile from guests.
Four articles by Elaine Viets, once a features writer for the Post-Dispatch, are framed on the kitchen wall, each chronicling unusual purchases made by Don. One article tells the story of how he became the owner of five vintage fire engines.
In the den, two walls of bookshelves are filled with art and history books. “I love being surrounded by books,” Linda says. On the floor, a large art deco rug with the image of a reproduced painting of a woman brings color to the room. On a wall above the rug is a glass-encased Roy Rogers costume, complete with fur-covered chaps.
A bedroom contains collectible posters from World War II, and a poster promoting Buffalo Bill’s “Congress of Rough Riders of the World,” and the upcoming appearance of the traveling extravaganza throughout France for six months in the late 1800s.
Large portraits of Don’s grandparents from the late 1880s are treasured mementos. Measuring almost 3-by-5 feet each, they are large enough to create a formidable presence.
Every so often, Linda modifies her decor and moves paintings and furniture to new locations around the house, and she adds or takes away a piece that has been on display.
“I go shopping in the basement,” she says.
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