Photo by Ryan Gladstone / St. Joseph News-Press

Mike Muehlbach, left, talks with city councilwoman Barbara LaBass about his experiences growing up in a nearby home. A steady stream of visitors filtered through the 1890s home at 1117 Isadore St. during the Uptown Homes Tour on Sunday afternoon.

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Restored homes play a funny trick on the imagination. They show what used to be and what could be, both at the same time.

The Uptown Homes Tour proved to visitors on Sunday that with a sizeable investment of money, elbow grease and time, neighborhood eyesores could return to their 19th century glory.

The recently restored Queen Anne home at 1117 Isadore St. reminded Mike Muehlbach of the house where he grew up, just a few blocks away at 10th and Lincoln Street.

“That same kind of stairway was in my mom’s house,” Mr. Muehlbach said. “She used to yell at us for shaking the rails.”

Two years ago, the house was not at all suitable for a trip down memory lane. Bob Ferrell started restoration work on the home in October 2006. With that project essentially complete, he moved his tools one house down in September to 1115 Isadore St. After years of neglect, the houses provided quite a project.

“It was a wreck,” Mr. Ferrell said as he stood in the kitchen at 1115 Isadore St. “A lot of people would have said tear it down. A lot of people did say tear it down.”

Workers patched floors and shored up walls through one of the snowiest winters in recent memory — no easy task in a building that did not have heat until February. Sheets of plastic over the windows did little to stop the wind. The cold weather actually prevented the one job that could’ve kept the workers warm.

“We had to wait until we had a couple days above freezing so we could put in the windows without the caulking freezing,” Mr. Ferrell said.

The only thing missing from the two homes is a family. That could change, as both homes are for sale.

Renters can reap the rewards of Uptown revitalization as well. The San Regis Apartments at 1015-1031 Faraon St. boasts a combination of 40 one- and two-bedroom apartments in the former Wyeth Flats building. The rich wooden staircases, walk-in closets and large windows with a view of Downtown left many visitors slack-jawed.

The apartments are intended for low to moderate income families and income restrictions apply. Paula Wilhoit, director of operations for San Regis Apartments, said the first tenant was already in the process of moving in. The building could fill quickly.

“I don’t have the exact number of applicants, but we own housing all across Missouri and I can say that for a building that opened so recently, interest is well above average,” Ms. Wilhoit said.

Any property owner within the Uptown area — roughly between Faraon and Powell streets, Fourth and 13th streets — can apply for tax abatement programs and services. The tax abatement provides owners with 10 years of property tax relief and 15 years of half taxes.

Business reporter Clinton Thomas can be reached at clintonthomas@npgco.com.