ST. LOUIS – Bob Cassilly was a St. Louis original. The Vianney and Fontbonne University grad is known as the creative force behind the iconic City Museum. His legacy is more than the popular downtown destination and runs well beyond the mundane.

The sculptor is responsible for works in his native St. Louis and beyond, from the Big-Tex Rex sculpture in Amarillo, the hippopotamus statues in Manhattan’s Riverside Park, the giraffe statue at the Dallas Zoo, to the statues at Turtle Park in Dogtown, and the Mysterious Monarch outside the Butterfly House in Chesterfield.

When he wasn’t bringing his bold visions to life, Cassilly spent time at a unique retreat in the Riverview neighborhood in north St. Louis City. The home and its castle stone guest house will be auctioned off next month. Adam Jokisch, the founder of Adam’s Auctions, says Cassilly’s wife, Melissa Giovanna Cassilly, believed it was time to move on now that their children are in college.

The original main house was built in the mid-1920s on what is now a private hill just off Riverview Drive. Cassilly refurbished and renovated the home over the years, and later designed and built the castle guest house himself.

The main home has three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. Each bedroom has its own view of the Mississippi River and the north end of Mosenthein Island. The bathroom in the guest home is a steam spa designed with salvaged black granite, a perfect showcase of Cassilly’s ability to reclaim and repurpose existing materials for his own use.

The grounds include a concrete in-ground pool, a large granite patio, a slate-roofed octagonal gazebo, a bamboo garden, a meditation shack, and a terracotta-colored concrete driveway. All of it the envisioned and crafted by Bob Cassilly.

Bidding will close on September 1 at 5 p.m. Adam’s Auctions will host a viewing of the property on Sunday, August 28, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

See the full listing here.

Additional Information
Realtor: Adam Jokisch, Adam’s Auctions
Photographer: Abraham Bernardini, Hommati 198 in The Metro East