Kansas City Architecture - Houses III - A Modern Twist

The humble foursquare house is ubiquitous in the Midwest. From farm houses to suburban architecture, the early 20th Century builders loved this simple and humble style.

There is little ornamentation, a lot of symmetry, and with most painted a boring white, a lot to be bored about most foursquare houses.

But not this one. It is a contemporary infill house that was built in the Westwood Hills neighborhood.

There is a lot to love about this house. It fits in the upscale neighborhood in aesthetic heft and architectural weight. The owners told me that they wanted a foursquare and asked the architect make it fit, but be contemporary.

The landscape is beautiful, but appropriate. The use of stone signals that this house is of a certain period in Kansas City.

The first clue that this is not a traditional foursquare is the lack of symmetry of the windows and doors. Yet, the slightly unsymmetrical placement pleases the eye.

Although I love über-modern architecture, I have a soft spot for this type of modern aesthetic that blends into its neighborhood and subtly whispers, "I'm more than you first suspect."

Kansas City Architecture - Houses II

This house is diagonal from the castle house. It was a dog of a house for many years.

It always seems to be gay men and women who see the potential in old houses. But even I didn't see the potential in this wreck of a house.

But two gay men saw what I didn't see. I never thought that they would make a silk purse out of that sow's ear, but they proved me wrong. It is one of the most beautiful homes on Valentine Road now.

Here is to the people who can see the silk purse in old houses and make their dream come true.

Kansas City Architecture - Houses

One of the things that I enjoyed most about Kansas City, other than the fountains, sculpture and people, was the diversity of housing architecture.

This was always a favorite house - the stone castle house in the Valentine. It represents the unusual limestone architecture of the city that doesn't seem to exist in such abundance in other cities.

A visiting relative once commented to me that her favorite part of Kansas City wasn't the obvious things. She had never seen stone used on houses to such impact before. She really fell in love with the old stone houses.

Sadly, the builders don't make houses like these anymore. It is cheaper and easier to put faux stone on exteriors than build houses with such substance and presence.

But in the older neighborhoods, a man's house can still be his castle.

Getting Started

To get the blog rolling, I thought that I'd share photos of some of my favorite places that I've been fortunate enough to live and enjoy.

I was born in south-central Kansas, but I consider Kansas City, Missouri my hometown. I lived there for more years than anywhere else. It is the City of Fountains, with more fountains than any other city in the world. It has the Country Club Plaza, the world's first shopping center, built in 1924 to resemble buildings in Seville, Spain. It also has interesting architecture that I haven't seen anywhere else.

I went to graduate school at Arizona State University and lived in Arizona afterwards several years. I really enjoyed my time there, especially wandering around the state to see all it had to offer.

I moved to San Francisco, California in 2007. One of the most photographed cities in the world, I have added my own photos to the mix.

My blog will have some ramblings and rants as time goes on, but for now, just sit back and enjoy the pictures.