Meet The Elmstead Homes Team

Any St. Louis, MO real estate agent can promise to help you find the “right home, right now” — we’re here to help you find one that stays the right home forever.

Friend to Friend:

We need to talk about the practical side of buying and selling homes.

I know, I know. It's not nearly as exciting as creating a Pinterest board, going to open houses, or falling in love with a kitchen you absolutely cannot afford.

But without the support of a St. Louis, MO real estate agent who will help you see past the gorgeous finishes and ask the practical questions, you might end up losing cash later when you have to majorly renovate your house or move yet again to make it work.

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Specializing in forward-thinking real estate means we’re here to protect your family and your equity, all at once.

So you can stay in your home for the long run, instead of being caught off guard when…

  • You start working from home and realize you have nowhere to actually do that

  • The nursery that worked great at 6 months doesn't work at 6 years

  • Your aging parents need to stay on the main floor and your house is a split-level

  • You want to host the holidays for the first time, but your dining room holds six people max

  • Your family grows faster than your square footage did

A woman with brown hair and glasses, smiling while walking outdoors on a sunny day. She is wearing a long, light blue, tiered dress, sandals, and jewelry, with trees in the background.

Founder Of Elmstead Homes

Hi, I’m Gretchen

A St. Louis, MO real estate agent turning an unconventional background into an unprecedented approach to real estate.

In my first career as an occupational therapist, my entire job was to help people stay happy and healthy at home — but no one was talking about the home itself until something went wrong.

I couldn’t unsee the gap in the housing system, and I couldn’t stop asking “why?!”

Why

aren’t we helping people choose homes that work for them long-term?

Why

aren’t we helping people think ahead?

Why

are we waiting until life forces our hand to have the conversations that matter?

These questions nagged at me for years — until I decided to do something about it and got my real estate license while on maternity leave with my firstborn.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Logo of the American Occupational Therapy Association with colorful overlapping letters and black text.
Logo of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), with a stylized roofline above the acronym 'NAHB' and the full name below.
Realtor logo with a large blue 'R' inside a blue square and the word 'REALTOR' beneath it.

I started Elmstead Homes to help families like yours find homes they can stay in forever.

Around here, a true "forever home" isn't defined by size or price — it's defined by how well it holds everything your family brings to it: new babies, crutches from soccer mishaps, holiday hosting, friends passing through town, and aging parents in the in-between-homes phase.

Let's Find Yours Together

You never think it’s going to happen to you until it does — or at least, I didn’t.

My work as an OT-turned-real-estate-agent has always felt personal, but it truly got personal in 2020, when my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

Suddenly, I found myself walking my own parents through the same choices as my clients, helping them look at their home through a completely different lens to figure out what to change.

Four women and one man smiling outdoors at a party with balloons in the background. The women are wearing casual clothing with jeans or white pants, and the man is holding a water bottle and wearing sunglasses and a cap.

Eventually, I helped them downsize and find a home that didn’t just accommodate the medical equipment my dad needed, but helped him stay included during his final days — with an accessible outdoor living space for him to watch his beloved Cardinals on TV, and room for the ramp we added to let him attend my sister’s wedding in his own backyard.

So, believe me when I tell you I don’t just understand the technical details of real estate (like mortgages, reverse mortgages, and marketing your listing) — I also get how hard these decisions can be, and am dedicated to making sure your family is fully supported through it all.

Two women outdoors on a patio during evening, one seated on a wicker chair wearing a mustard sweater and discussing with a woman sitting on a white folding chair wearing glasses, a black top, and blue jeans, both smiling and reaching towards each other.

Meet The Elmstead Homes Team

A smiling woman with short brown hair, wearing a light-colored vest and a white shirt, standing in a modern kitchen with beige and white tones. She has a gold necklace with a heart-shaped pendant and is resting her hand on a white kitchen countertop.

Linda Mueller

Showing Director

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Elyse Schowalter

Transaction Coordinator

We’re the kind of real estate team who will…

  • Drive documents to you and read them out loud, so low vision isn’t a barrier to timely transactions

  • Help coordinate your parents’ downsizing move, so you can make sure they have everything they need while taking care of your own kids and self, too

  • Stage your parents' home for free, so it sells for what it's actually worth without coming out of their pocket first

  • Interview agents across the country on your behalf, so you're not cold-calling strangers in a city you've never lived in

  • Celebrate with you when it's done — because moves are a BFD (Big Freakin’ Deal, of course), and you deserve someone who treats it that way

Work With Us

Is your home a good fit for the life you’re planning?

Take The HomeFit Quiz to see how well your current home—or the one you’re considering—supports the way you want to live now and in the years ahead.

In just a few minutes, you’ll uncover potential strengths, future barriers, and the home features worth thinking about before you have to.

Take the quiz
Person holding a smartphone displaying a home fit quiz web page on a beige background. The mobile device shows a title 'Free Assessment' and a headline asking 'Does your home still fit your life?' with a yellow button underneath that says 'Start the Assessment'.

If you like real estate, real life, or real talk about the home details more people need to pay attention to, you’ll love hanging with us on Instagram.

Backyard pool with two children swimming, surrounded by wooden fence and outdoor seating, with trees overhead; overlaid text recommends downsizing homes to children.
Close-up of a coffee mug with text that reads, "Mom to mom stop chasing the 'Pinterest' homes, start choosing homes that support your real life." The mug is being held over a kitchen floor with a cabinet in the background.
A woman shopping for a teak shower bench at a home goods store. The image features shelves stocked with boxes of teak shower benches and text overlay giving advice about choosing a teak shower bench over a plastic one.
A person holding a mug of coffee in a modern kitchen with a living room in the background, featuring a stone fireplace, large windows, and contemporary furnishings, with an overlaid text saying, "Because thoughtful living is in the little things, too."
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