Strolled the West Side Sunday fascinated by the mixture of architectural styles exemplified by the shot above. Really old and really new side by side and merged. Not all to my liking but certainly interesting on many levels. My father's family lived on the West Side from the 1890's through the early 1900s.... only one of their houses still stands... This probably explains my fascination with this area.
I always park by the FBI Building theorizing that car thieves MIGHT be smart enough to give it a wide birth.... crossing the Summit Street Bridge over 670 leads you straight into the heart of the district.
Much of the housing stock has been meticulously restored... I suppose "gentrification" is the appropriate term but that seems to have negative connotations. As far as preservation is concerned, if it can be saved... gentrify away to your hearts content.
Nice to see the daffodils .... but, strangely, no one was outside.
I know virtually nothing about giving proper names to architectural styles... but it is easy to tell the old and the new apart.... i.e. above and below....
This will be my only snarky comment. I do believe that architects, in general, should adopt the motto of the medical profession.... "First, do no harm."
More style melding.... a little less jarring here. (above)
Beautiful restoration above... and the Bluebird Cafe below... right of center.
Above... 20th Century strip mall. I was delighted to find a brand new little cafe that will be opening in the first part of April. Just east of Bellevue on 17th Street. They were having a test day and I snuck in.... you can't miss the entry... below...
The name is FUD with a horizontal colon over the U... which I have no idea how to do on a keyboard. It smelled absolutely wonderful in there.... and was very warm and welcoming....
I wish I hadn't just eaten lunch. I'm going back....
Above.... very tall, very slender and very new. Below.... faithfully restored... I lined my shot up with the fence... so the house must be crooked.
North side of the above house shows a very large garden.... looks like preparations are underway for planting... you can see how the very tall, very narrow and very new dwarfs its neighbor. I already made my one snarky remark.
Good housing is in demand on the West Side... so much so that they are using trees.... above... a tree house and the mother manse.... below the tree house isolated.
More merging of old and new above.
Took the above shot to show how close to downtown the West Side is... walk to work.
This, to me, is an example of older construction that doesn't quite match the architectural majority. I like the building... it just seems out of place.
Above new, below old.
Eclectic doesn't even start to explain......
The back of a house with another tree dwelling.... I think we see recycling in action here.
Above.... stumbled upon this coven of modern which I didn't know existed... " interesting" I'll give them...below, what appears to be the oldest house in the "cul-de-sac" which actually surrounds the oldest park in the city. (I've got to get out more... I didn't know about it either.)
Land donated in the mid 1800s for KC's .... first..... Andrew Drips Park. Naturally someone had to screw up the granite with a chisel. At the north end of the cul-de-sac is another foot bridge that takes one around behind the FBI Building, by a ball field in Mulkey Park... that one I'd heard of.
Above.... steps to nowhere with the Skyline in the background. Below the Steer on it's "new" perch... although it's been there a while.
Went passed the car to get one shot of the skyline from the Summit Street Bridge just as the sun made a brief appearance.
I just scratched the surface when it comes to photographing the west side... I'll be going back again soon.
Eric and Deana reside in this home on Olive built in 1889 for George Collier who was in real estate at the time. Since 2002 successive owners have lovingly restored the home to it's original Victorian beauty.
Above, Andrew and Jessica make this 1889 Queen Anne their home. Built by the Western Lumber Company for Frank S. Groves, the home was right next door to his partner in Simpson and Groves, Frank Simpson. Simpson and Groves was the largest real estate, loan and insurance business in Kansas City at the time.
In 1934 the house was converted into a duplex. Over the years, except for the staircase below, the original woodwork was removed.
The current owners moved in last year and finished the remodeling and upgraded the kitchen. Future plans include a media room on the finished third floor and a wine cellar.
Joseph N. Roll and Elmer E. Roll, a peddler and carpenter respectively, were the first owners of this house in 1886. In the 1950s the house was turned into an upstairs/downstairs duplex. The current owners, Gayle and Sarina, are in the process of a total restoration to a single family house... above you can see the second door which was added in place of the original window. That will be fixed as progress on the structure is made.
Interior ceilings were lowered and windows bricked up as part of the conversion to duplex. The 10-foot ceilings will be restored along with the oak flooring.
This ornate three-story walk-up apartment building was constructed by A. P. Arnold in 1918 for Pearl Arnold. In 1919 the units were renting for $30-$40 per month. They were two or three bedroom apartments with kitchnettes.
The building, at one time used as a convent, fell into disrepair over the years. In 1992 it was rehabbed with the building opened up into one residence. Samuel, the current owner, has completed the restoration which now includes a rooftop deck with a spectacular view of the Kansas City skyline.
You can look from first floor to third floor after the remodel. (And visa versa.)
Above, the second floor and, below, the view down to the first floor. Tomorrow part two of the posting with two more homes and a tour of Scuola Vita Nuova.... a spectacular charter school in the heart of the community.
