Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Northeast Fall Homes Tour - Volume Two

Tom and Kate O'Donnell were the first to live in this Independence Plaza Home built in 1909 for $2,000.  Tom was a Kansas City Police Officer whose beat was in the West Bottoms.  Another Tom, Tom Ribera owns the home today with his wife Laura Remy.  It's a work in progress as extensive renovations are required.

Above, two of the docents for the home Leslie Caplan, President of Scarritt Renaissance Neighborhood Association, and her niece.




Above, former residents of the home look at photos on the wall.  This home stayed in the O'Donnell/Sullivan family for three generations.

The Lykins Neighborhood is the site of this Myrtle Avenue home built in 1890.   In 1895 the residence became the "Door of Hope" a home for "fallen women and incorrigible girls."  In June 2008 Jason and Candy Fields bought the home.  As the house had been abandoned for quite some time, it was in pretty poor shape.  New HVAC in the attic, 100 sheets of sheetrock.. and duct work have brought the old charmer back.



The Fields are founders of the Urban Farming Guys... a group that believes in sustainability and making their living from the earth.




There is an aquaponics system in the greenhouse above, and they also raise fish all year long in the same facility.



The home is powered by a solar-array that provides 25kilowatts of power.   Rainwater is collected from the array and stored in large barrels that feed a drip-line to the plantings.  The array provides all the electricity the home needs.



The Sheffield Neighborhood is home to Our Lady of Peace Parish (formerly St. Stephens) and the rectory was on tour as well as the church.  The stone for this home, built in 1908 for $3,000, was quarried in the East Bottoms.  The architectural style is "Cornbelt Cube"..  It has been sub-divided into offices for the Parish.    In 1918 the Priest stood on the second floor balcony to conduct Mass in hopes of avoiding the spread of the Spanish Flu then ravaging the country.


Above, the newel post and railing are original.



In 1919 the church was built with stone quarried from downtown Kansas City.  It cost $30,000.





Another Sheffield home built ca 1900 and 1902 in the Vernacular Farmhouse style.  The first recorded resident was Albert B. Baird, a house carpenter.
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Morales, who lived next door, purchased this home for rental income.  They transferred ownership of the home to their son Mark who lives there today.  Mark Morales is also President of the Sheffield Neighborhood Association.





Sunday, October 20, 2013

Northeast Fall Homes Tour - Volume One

 Saturday, October 19th, 2013 was the date for the Second Annual Northeast Kansas City Historical Society's Fall Homes Tour.  Six homes and a church were featured in three of the six neighborhoods that make up Historic Northeast.   Above is the home of Van and Jan Marquis...  the Victorian was built ca 1891 and was originally 50 feet to the west (left) of its present location.  The first occupant was Lon H. Gaskill... subsequent residents included Miss Amelia Gray, a teacher at Garfield Elementary School, and Milton Losee, manager of the Sandwich Manufacturing Company.  Our present homeowners bought the home in 1994 and have done a complete restoration of the interior and exterior. This home is in the Independence Plaza Neighborhood. .
        The light on the newel post in the above shot is original to the home.  This is the front entry hall.
                                            Above and below, the living room/parlor.


 Above and below, the Library... created by the current owners.  Stained glass is not original but gorgeous.

 Above and below, the dining room including two of the superb docents for the all-volunteer tour.

                                  Above the entry hall, below, a cozy corner in the kitchen.



 Above, another shot of the Parlor/Living Room with its south-facing windows.  Below, the front door.


 Above, the current owner installed bathroom under the front stairs which are shown in the shots below.


                                       Above, the front porch and below the back and side yards.

 The iron fence in the above photo was rescued from a home on sixth street.  It had been discarded
 The Lykins Neighborhood plays host to this 1888 beauty constructed for Thomas King Hanna part owner of Burnham, Hanna, Linger and Company which was located on Delaware Street in todays City Market area.  A combination of Queen Anne and Tudor architecture, the home has walls that are two-feet thick.  Multiple owners have lived here including O.C. Trice in 1900, George O. Coffin in 1908, and, surprisingly, the home was subdivided into ten living units and called the Maplewood Apartments in 1922.  In 1988 the current owner, Mr. Gunter Van De Kiefernagel, bought the home and began an extensive renovation which returned the home to single family status.
 Many coats of paint had to be removed from the original woodwork inside.   Pocket doors needed restoration and lots of non-original walls removed.
                   Above, the front doors and below the view from the porch toward ninth street. The home
                                                    has 10-thousand square feet of living area.

                                        Above the entry hall and below the parlor.
                            Below, directly across the Hall from the Parlor is the Formal Living Area...


                                                 Above and below, the dining room.




                                                              Above and below, the kitchen.



 All the murals in the home and the room design were done by Gunter who was formerly a Principal Dancer with the Berlin Ballet.

                                 Above, stairs to the second floor and, below, the entryway.