by Rev. Lowrie Daly, S.J.

The stately Victorian house at 3900 Westminster Place was once the home and office of prominent St. Louis physician, Dr. Charles H. Gundelach. In 1895, Dr. Gundelach moved his family and his practice to this then-prestigious St. Louis site.The elegant, 15-room house cost him all of $13,000 to build!

The house’s arched front entrance is distinguished by decorative swags engraved in sandstone and a round tower extending above the roof of the house. Massive double doors open into a 29 x 12-foot center hall, which has its own fireplace lined with ornate ironwork. The front parlor to the right has cherubs painted on the ceiling and a mahogany mantle with a mirror that extends from floor to ceiling.

Dr. Gundelach’s patients used a less impressive side entrance off Vandeventer Boulevard. A waiting room, the doctor’s office, and an examining room were adjacent.

During the year 1905, Dr. Gundelach moved to the rapidly developing western section of the city and sold the house to designer and tailor, Girolamo Giuseffi.

St. Louis in 1888 to open his own shop. St. Louis at that time had a growing reputation as a fashion center. Soon, Giuseffi’s parents and his three maiden sisters – Amelia, Pasqualina, and Rosina – joined him.

Giuseffi strove to attract an exclusive, upper-class clientele. His staff was small, consisting of him and his sisters, all of whom had studied tailoring in Europe. His brother, Peppino, also worked with the firm for a short time.

Giuseffi’s Ladies Tailoring Company soon became one of the nation’s leading fashion houses, and elite society women eagerly awaited each season’s designs.

Giuseffi’s creations were prized in St. Louis and throughout the country. His gowns were noted for fine workmanship and intricate and elaborate detailing.

As patrons arrived for fittings, they were ushered into the “Gold Room” in the house’s round tower. The room was lavishly furnished with Oriental carpets, gilt furniture upholstered in silk, oil paintings in heavy gilt frames, velvet and damask draperies, and marble pedestals topped with statuary.

Giuseffi and his sisters lived on the second floor. The third floor, used as a ballroom by the Gundelach family, was converted into a cutting and sewing area.

Giuseffi died a bachelor in 1934 at age 69. His sisters continued the business and lived in the house for 19 more years. They were members of St. Francis Xavier (College) Church, at Grand and Lindell Boulevards. They thus became friends with Fr. Eugene Murphy, S.J., founder of The Sacred Heart Program.

In 1953, they moved to a home at Union and Lindell and donated the Westminster property to the Jesuits, who began using it as the center for The Sacred Heart Program. The broadcast apostolate, which had been housed in makeshift quarters at the Saint Louis University Law School, happily moved to its new home.

The third floor was converted into production studios for radio broadcasts, and the second floor converted into offices. The basement was later used for television and video production. The former “Gold Room” near the front door became Fr. Murphy’s office, and there was a daily stream of visitors who dropped by to chat or to ask for help.

Though officially “retired,” Rev. Lowrie Daly, S.J., volunteers at The Sacred Heart Program, compiling and editing the Homily Series made available to the clergy. Fr. Daly is also a chaplain at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis.