City of St. Louis looking to repair Chuck Berry house

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) — The home of Chuck Berry, known for his moves and tunes, could soon be getting a makeover.

Joe Edwards, friend of Berry and owner of Blueberry Hill, tells First Alert 4, “There’s some people that could play guitar and sing. There’s some that could move around and sing, but to do all three, he was a superstar.”

Blueberry Hill is a restaurant in the Delmar Loop.

Edwards says the two forged an unexpected friendship, and Berry performed in the restaurant’s iconic Duck Room 209 times.

“He’s still probably the most well-known St. Louisan ever...his career, he stayed in St. Louis. A lot of people start to make it and then move somewhere else, but he stayed here,” says Edwards.

In 1950, Berry and his wife, Themetta moved into a home on 3137 Whittier Street. It sits in the Ville.

Over the next seven years, Berry made history writing hit songs like “Maybellene” and “Johnny B. Goode.”

According to Edwards, “He wrote and recorded some of the greatest rock anthems of all time when he was living in that house.”

Berry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Fast forward to 2025 and the City of St. Louis is accepting bids to renovate Berry’s home.

“I think it’d be great if somebody could pull that off and all ‘cause it’s worth preserving it,” says Edwards.

Brock Seals, a St. Louis native would also like to see the piece of history preserved.

Seals tells First Alert 4, “I feel like that’s a really good idea. I my mom and all her. They grew up around the corner from the house, so sometimes they would hear them in the backyard playing, you know, and I feel like that would be really nice for the Northside. lot of history over there, so that’s perfect.”

He goes on to say, “I think it’ll bring a lot of positive energy into the city. Like I say, it’s a lot of historic architecture in there and it’s a lot of places. We just need a lot of people to come back to the city. "

In 2008, the home was listed in the National of Historic Places.

Bids on the project are open through 3 p.m. on February 14. A pre-bid meeting for prospective bidders will take place at 9:30 a.m. at 3137 Whittier Street.

Click here to learn more or to attend the pre-bid meeting.

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