John and Katie Jackson were not looking to move in 2017. They had plans to add on to their Glendale home to create more space for themselves and their seven children, who were all sharing a single bathroom, until Katie saw an online real estate listing for a familiar house just a couple of miles away.

One of the oldest properties in Kirkwood, the Singleton-Hartman House was built in 1853 by architect Henry Singleton, who was recruited to St. Louis from Massachusetts to help design the Old Courthouse downtown. He settled in Kirkwood and designed the house as his family home. Decades later, the Hartman family would own and reside in the house for 50 years, raising nine children there.

Katie was best friends with one of the Hartman family’s granddaughters and John was best friends with one

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