Restoration

The Kaiser family once occupied the three-story Victorian-style building, now known as the Dielmann-Kaiser House.

Robert Dielmann purchased the property from a church in the 1970s and began the extensive restoration on the three-story limestone and brick house.

He has spent more than forty years researching the history of the Kaiser family and the neighborhood. Robert was assisted by students from Washington University to determine the original colors of the building and do archaeological digs in a cistern in back yard. The garden area was once connected to the rock house to the north and used as a summer kitchen by the Kaiser family.

Today, the back garden is filled with flowers, trees, an Italian-style fountain and decorative planters. What was once mostly dead grass is now a lush front garden with decorative fence, planters, statues and trees.

From the 1970s until recently, it was not unusual to find Robert high on a ladder painting details on the trim or adding decorative elements to what has been fondly become known as "The Pink Lady."

Using historic photographs and books on Victorian furnishings, he has painstakingly restored the house to provide a living example of the lifestyle of a typical working class family during the Victorian era in St. Louis.

Many of the ceilings featuring murals, reminiscent of the Old Masters. Through the house, nearly every wall features his oil paintings of family members, landscapes, animals and historic scenes from St. Louis.

Dielmann has also collected many of the original household furnishings, porcelain decorations, dinner servings, clothes and even toys once enjoyed by their children.