Dr. Margaret Tirjan and Thomas Tirjan bought a three-bedroom, three-bath home at 221 Topton Way in Clayton from Marjorie J. Kruvand and Marjorie J. Revocable Living Kruvand for $427,900 on May 11.

The 1,820-square-foot house was built in 1952 in West of Hanley Rd. It is part of the Clayton Gardens subdivision.

Dr. Tirjan has been an assistant professor for the advertising and public relations program at Loyola University Chicago since 2008. She previously worked as a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a senior vice president and partner at Fleishman-Hillard, and an assistant professor of journalism at Northeastern University in Boston.

She received her Ph.D. from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, her master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and her bachelor's degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis.

Mr. Tirjan is a market director at Sprint. He previously worked as regional director of sales at Ellacoya Networks, vice president of sales at Intira, and major accounts manager for both Ascend Communications and Cascade Communications. He has a B.S. in business administration from Penn State University.

According to BlockShopper.com, there have been 112 home sales in Clayton during the past 12 months, with a median sales price of $522,000.

Address: 221 Topton Way
Buyer(s): Margaret Tirjan (and husband) and Thomas Tirjan (and wife)
Seller(s): Marjorie J Kruvand (Trustee) (and others) and Marjorie J Revocable Living Kruvand (Trust) (and others)
Sale date: May. 11, 2011