The home at 704 Westmount is up for sale, giving curious folks like me an opportunity to peek inside. Here‘s the House of Brokers’ virtual tour of the home, which is priced at $689,000.
So why does the headline mention peanut brittle? Three homes were built in 1907 in Columbia that carry that descriptive name for the outside surface of the house. Those homes are at 504, 608 and 704 Westmount Avenue were named to the Notable Properties List of Columbia’s Historic Preservation Commission in 2001.
An article written by Jim Muench in the February/March 2006 issue of Columbia Home & Lifestyle describes the home.
The article titled, “The Pebbled Pickett Home,” outlined the construction process of the home as well provides information on the owner 608 Westmount Avenue home and builder of the unusual threesome of houses with their distinctive look.
The exterior of the home was built by pouring concrete into a form over a layer of river rock and sand. The rock and pebbles were, the article notes, ” hauled up from local streambeds by wagons and mule teams.”
The builder of the homes, Curtis was a native of New England, the article notes. Curtis was a professor at the University of Missouri. Curtis was a professor of zoology and dean of the College of Arts and Science. Today, a building on the University of Missouri campus is named after him — it is not in the peanut brittle style. In 2010, the Curtis Building housed Agronomy, a Plant Sciences Unit and USDA Agriculture Research.