David Runnels-Architect "The Revere Homes"- Roe Circle in Prairie Village, KS

As I recall in 2007, Robert McLaughlin and I met with David Runnels daughter, Jill. We collected her remembrances in an oral history. She placed in our safekeeping numerous items including plans, drawings, etc. and also numerous photograhic slides. These pics are from about 1953 to 55(?), taken by Runnels of the homes built by Don Drummond. The design was published in House Beautiful, Life magazine and numerous design books and trade publications. There were 14 of these Revere Homes built by Drummond(featuring copper plumbing, guttering and flashings, insulation, etc. Don't forget your Mom's Revere Ware!) One was found to be built near Nall and in Lawrence by a different builder, we heard was from Topeka. There could be more of these gems scattered elsewhere...

The above shot is of Jerad (Studio/Build)and Jessica Foster's house when new. The houses were originally stained with the trim painted various colors as seen in these photos. To enlarge, click on image.

In the above photo is an interesting effect by Runnels, bringing the balcony screen down to the ground. Large windows bring in fresh air and cross breezes prior to air conditioning...Below: Rear photos from a then untamed Brush Creek.

Great neighborhood pictures, I love the cars, Desotos and Studebakers. Not many trees in the Skyscape of PV back then Don provided an ample landscaping allowance as seen here...interesting to see the houses to the north on Tomahawk (all painted white) and see the contrast to these "sports-car" houses. I'll get more of these on the site soon. To see more of David Runnels see the tabs to the right...

Marcel Breuer House Tour and Martini Modern Party at Wendt Designed and Built House

I'm late in getting this post up! I thought I would show some random photos of the Marcel Breuer designed house we had on tour recently. Built in 1954 and still owned by the original owner this is a fantastic time capsule of a house featuring original Breuer designed furniture as well as other iconic pieces. The photos below show a seldom seen rear angle of the house and deck. Lucky to get these shots before approximately 100 attended the tour.

The photo below is a perspective study of a house being built down the street, inspired by the Breuer house.

The house featured below is the Bob Wendt designed and built house in Town and Country Estates in Prairie Village, KS. Constructed in 1961, this lavish and large 2 bedroom house was a wedding gift. It has incredible hardwood paneling and custom built cabinetry.

Walls of glass everywhere... below the new addition connects nicely with the original house.

Friends enjoying a great day for a Martini Modern House Tour and Party! Below, one of the owners talks about his experience in the house and construction of the addition. This was a great event with great people, great food, great martinis and great architecture!!

To see more Bob Wendt houses check him out on the right...

Bob Wendt-House Designer/Builder-Part 2

This home was designed by Roger Wilken, Architect and with certain adjustments suggested, built by Bob Wendt. This pin-wheel plan featured great indoor/outdoor views and multiple patios, with "japanese" steps down to them as he did in the Graves and Morgan houses, which are nearby. Around this time Bob complained about getting skilled craftsmen that could complete his plans with quality workmanship, often doing the work himself.

Below- Detail of chimney. Bob liked stone masonry and used it in most of his designs.

The house below is in Mission Hills, KS near 63rd and Aberdeen. Bob "loved a good gable" and this house is the ultimate example of that...a double gabled roof on the large public space and a gallery, low and private are for the bedrooms, walkout basement on the north side, with loads of light and a beautiful pool area with cabana. The "Barefoot Contessa" recently did a fundraiser/cooking show at this house ...

Below is Bob's own home built in the late fifties. In many ways it was an experimental house due to its unusual building components. We will be featuring some of these houses individually to show that Bob's work has merit and should be appreciated for his perfectionism in construction and design ability. A number of years ago I talked with Eugene Young, Architect and he told me a story about going to see Bob at his office behind the Westwood shops in the mid-sixties. He quoted Bob as saying "Architects don't like me because I'm not an Architect and Builders don't like me because I can design a good house and insure the quality of construction for an owner.

Photography by Bob Greenspan and Scott Lane

Bob Wendt-House Designer/Builder-Part 1

Robert Edward Wendt was born in Herington, Ks, 1924. After graduating high school he enlisted in the Army Air Corp in 1941 after bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served mostly on the island of Guam as the crew chief of a B-29 Bomber. When he returned from service he obtained his Architectural Engineering degree while working as Don Drummond's first foreman. While working with Don, Bob met Lloyd Roark, a prominent local architect. Roarke offered Bob the job of contractor and builder for a home he had on the drawing board. They worked on several jobs until Bob decided he wanted to design, draft and build from his own plans. His reputation and career evolved at that point. His brother Don a master carpenter came to work for him and did beautiful custom cabinet work. The house seen above and below was built for Dan Tyler in 1961.

Behind the stone walls that flank the entrance (below) are patios accessed from the bedrooms.

Long and low the house screams shelter and privacy...originally the large sliding glass doors opened to a large semi-circular aggregate patio.

Bob was never interested in building tract or speculative homes, only "Custom Built Homes for Owners" was what his signs and cards said. Most of Bob's homes were located in Prairie Village and Mission Hills, KS. These Homes (above and below) were built in Town and Country Estates.

This was the former home of Ray and Betty Pitman. The boomerang shaped home stretched across the corner lot. The clerestory addition on the left roofline came later. The pictures speak for themselves, this is a cool house...

The only homes Bob ever constructed for sale were also his last he ever designed and built. These two contemporay homes are located on a private cul-de-sac in Prairie Village, Ks near 67th and Nall. Plans and photos were featured in various magazines and publications, Both houses sold before they were built. The one shown below was the home of Dean Graves, FAIA. The other house was purchased by Myra and Jim Morgan, former owners of the Morgan Gallery. You might recall the large "yard-art" sculptures on the lot in front of these homes.

Photography by Bob Greenspan and Scott Lane

Some details provided by Maudell Wendt

Bob Wendt- House Designer/Builder "What's the Story on That House"

Located near 67th and Nall in Prairie Village, KS a fine group of three mid-century modern houses was planned for construction at this site, a former apple orchard. The planner,designer and builder was Bob Wendt. To connect some dots, Bob was Don Drummond's first foreman. Educated as an engineer, Bob was fond of post and beam construction., precision was his hallmark. In 1967 he was building this house when Dean Graves, architect FAIA approached and inquired about buying the home and incorporating some of his ideas. To the west of this house on a small culdesac, Jim and Myra Morgan, art collector/gallery owner, bought the mirror image of this house. The homes sit far from the street down a long driveway and many people will remember the monumental sculptures the Morgans displayed in the vacant lot on 67th St. The third house planned for that lot never got built. The lot and Morgan's house were sold after her death a few years ago.
Dean and Ginny Graves house. This photo shows the car court featuring stainless steel art.

The stone wall on the right hid the side entry carport, now repurposed as an office, an adjoining garage was constructed. Note the unusual sidewalk aggregate/brick design.

Below you see the door to the office and the garage addition. The original siding is hardwood board and batt, with the batts on end instead their slab sides, very distinctive with great shadow lines.

Rear of house...

Living Room with danish fireplace and semi-circular stone wall...Lots of floor to ceiling windows
provide natural light and sweeping views of the parklike rear yards.

Bob often used stone aggregate slabs as a dramatic visual effect. This house served the family well for over 40 years and the Graves have recently decided to move. Bob Wendt's work is worth further study and I plan to feature him in an upcoming post...he designed and built some great modern houses during his career. These houses in this post represent the last homes he ever built...

1955 Brochure for 'The House that HOME Built'

KCMODERN friend, Scott Butterfield did some serious scan work of 'The House that HOME Built' brochure to let us share it with our readers. The promotional brochure was designed and printed by NBC for participating builders to use in their marketing of 'The House that HOME Built.' Kansas City Modern Builder, Don Drummond gave the brochure to Scott's parents in 1955, when they were thinking about having Don build them a house. Don Drummond signed the back cover for Scott at a soiree during the Drummond Weekend in 2006.

Also note the math notation on the last image from 1955 to Scott's parents, "1680 square feet x $15 per square foot = $25,200." That is not a bad price for a Jones and Emmons designed home that was also built by Joseph Eichler. That would be $200,000 to $275,00o in today's dollars depending on what conversion you use. I would hate to have to try to build it today for $275k!

As I have mentioned before Jones and Emmons Architects went on to design the X-100 and Case Study House #24 for Joe Eichler.

Enjoy 'The House that HOME Built' in all its Mid-Century Modern goodness!

If you have not read it yet be sure to check out this article on 'The House that HOME Built.'

1955 PARADE OF HOMES-Part Three

The 1955 Kansas City Home Builders Association Parade of Homes Guidebook featured the above ad on the back cover, naming "powerhouse" builders of the time...I love the wall refrigerator, which I think was a cool idea thet never took off, perhaps because of costs and reduced wall storage space...still a cool idea. Note the "All-in-One" unit in the upper right called the "Kitchen Center"...every appliance but the refrigerator grouped together as one, sounds daunting and depressing by today's standards...but convenient!
The guidebook is a great example of the growth of "First-Ring" suburbs like Prairie Village, KS. The ranch dominated the styles available...
The house below was by Sam Symons, builder. You will see a number of examples of this identifiable plan throughout the area. He was a "direct" competitor with Don Drummond for a few years in the "Modern" home market, and many people refer to these homes as "Drummonds" because of similar characteristics. This house is the largest of the three built on the southeast corner of 75th and Lamar. 75th street was just recently paved and was two-lane setting the houses well back from the road. I love the pricing, for example: "Six Foot Longer House- $1000". The houses were priced in the guidebook from "$15,000 to $17,500". Interesting to note Symons office on Juniper was one of this plan.

The house below is the Better Homes and Gardens "Idea Home of the Year"... built by Vic Regnier. Vic was a builder/ developer at the time, building many homes in the area near Ranchmart Shopping Center (which he developed and built including his multi-family residences. According to the O.P. Sun, Vic was estimated to be worth about $36 million in the late 1980's. That didn't stop him from coming to work everyday in his beat up pickup truck bringing his lunch and washing it down with buttermilk... a brilliant business man who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, you would often see him at Ranchmart Hardware, where I think he preferred to be).

Vic didn't build many "modern" houses, preferring a more traditional ranch house. The house below had the breezeway lifestyle, which ultimately would get enclosed, expanding livable square footage. When I first saw it in the late 1980's it still had it's light-stained mahogany walls and cabinets... The "magazine" house was all the rage at the time, it being a unique medium to reach the public, and more importantly, women...as I understand it, this architect was in/involved with the architectural firm of Hugh Stubbins, giving it a unique pedigree... per the guidebook, this house was priced $30,000-$35,000...as far as we know, this was the only one of this plan built. The images are not here now...but I may add them later...

Lloyd Roark, Architect- "What's the Story on That House?"

Lloyd Roark, architect, owned seven lots between Roe and Nall on 66th Terrace and 67th Street in Prairie Village, KS. His requirement to purchase a lot was you must build soon and you must build an architect-designed modern house, subject to his approval. On 66th Terr. he had four smaller lots and on 67th St, he had 3 larger lots. Lloyd, who was an enthusiastic anti-J.C. Nichols voice because of his stance against modernism, built his own house on one of the smaller lots in 1954 and built a reversed plan, next door, to speculate in the housing market. The houses were slab on grade with floor heating(Natco Radiant Tile with a forced air furnace, the "channeled" tiles actually acting as ductwork), three bedrooms and two bathrooms, multiple outdoor living areas and combination carport-garages. Two other "moderns" were built on the lots on 66th Ter. The three larger lots on 67th Street feature houses by Falkenberg, Hollis and Miller (noted for designing many schools and fire stations in the area) and the Hyde house by Bruce Goff, organic architect extraordiaire. The Hydes told me Roark required a one foot height reduction on their house because he was concerned it would be too tall near the surrounding ranches. The photo below shows the two Roark designed houses as they look today. Both have been through a contractor remodel. The Roark house remodel is perhaps more sensitive, at least there were no shutters added, though both have changed the front window arrangement which was very private. The photo below shows the two houses as they appear now.

The following photos show the house as it appeared with the second owner, who lived there until recently...I apologize for the dark interior shots...


The photo below shows the house in late winter...note the new windows in front, removing the "introverted" look of the house, which featured a private front facade (with cross-ventilation) and lots of glass overlooking the outdoor spaces to the side...

Roark and his wife lived in their house until 1969 when they moved to California. (Mackie and Roark did some notable work in Kansas City, more to follow...)

Hyde Residence Fireplace by Architect, Bruce Goff - Bonus Photo of the Week

Name: Hyde Residence
Architect: Bruce Goff
Year Designed: 1964
Builder: Michael Rothstein Construction
Year Built: 1965
Size: 3400 sq. ft. 5 bedroom 3 ½ bath
Location: Prairie Village, Kansas
Type: Residential
Style: Organic Modern
Status: Very Good
Photographer: Robert McLaughlin

The ten foot by ten foot central skylight over the brick hearth is penetrated by the fireplace chimney, which has a purple mirrored triangular wall behind. Strips of “cellophane rain” hang from the skylight, creating a magic play of light on carpet and walls. With a fire burning, you understand the concept of Earth, Fire and Water. Many people know the house from the use of green dime store ashtrays used as stained glass elements in the doors and railing.

Castilian by Architects, Jones and Emmons - Modern Photo of the Week

Name: Castilian
Architect: Jones and Emmons ( A. Quincy Jones)
Year Designed: 1956
Builder: Don Drummond
Year Built: circa 1956-57
Size: Unknown sq.ft. 3 or 4 bedroom variations with 2 baths
Location: Prairie Village, Kansas
Type: Residential
Style: Modern Atomic Ranch
Status: Excellent
Photographer: Robert McLaughlin

We will be posting a lot more about the design of this home a little later.

Before You Buy a House by John Hancock Callender

Back in 2004, co-blogger Scott and I went to California to visit with Don Drummond at his home in Carmel, California. After an entire day of chatting about his years building Modern homes in Kansas City, he began to look for some old magazines and books about his projects in KC. He took us to a hall closet, which had some of his wife's books on design and there was this book with the Revere Homes from Prairie Village, KS on the cover. It was called, Before You Buy a House, by John Hancock Callender. My heart skipped a beat with excitement when I saw it. Seeing my enthusiasm, Don offered to give me the book. I resisted the tempting offer, suggesting that he give it to one of his children or grandchildren instead. I did except his offer on another fabulous book, but that is a story for another day. Ironically, I found the same book on the shelf of Stephen Ritchings, another Mid-Century Modern enthusiast and friend in California later that same weekend. Making note of the title, I immediately ordered a couple copies of this rare title from used book sellers upon my arrival back home.

This has proven to be one my favorite titles in my extensive vintage architecture book collection. It has early 1950's homes by many of the great house designers and builders of the time. Most notably. there is extensive coverage of the early Eichler homes by Anshen and Allen and Jones and Emmons in California. Also of note are homes in Hollin Hills, Alexandria, VA by Architect, Charles M. Goodman and Builder, Robert C. Davenport. Closer to home, there are projects in Arapahoe Acres, Denver, CO by Architect, Eugene R. Sternberg and Builder, Edward B. Hawkins.

The book is titled Before You Buy a House: How to Judge, How to Value, How to Decide by John Hancock Callender and authorized by the Architectural League of New York and the Southwest Research Institute. Published by Crown Publishing, New York in 1953.
160 pages, 34 Houses and developments, 211 black-and-white photographs, drawings, and plans, and an Evaluation Checklist prepared by The Housing Research Foundation.

Because some of these homes will be on the upcoming KCMODERN Runnells Modern House Tour I thought I would share this book with you. Here are the pages from the book pertaining to the Revere Home by Architect, David B. Runnells and Builder, Donald H. Drummond.

Drummond "Flatties" - The J.C. Nichols Connection

In 1951 Francie Drummond returned from a trip to San Francisco CA. She had seen houses built by, and met, a successful Bay Area home builder named Earl Smith. She liked the way his new house plan functioned. He developed subdivisions and built many homes. Due to the flat roofs on his many houses he was nicknamed "Flat Top" Smith. Joe Eichler, another Bay Area builder/developer started his Sunnyvale Development with house plans obtained from Smith. Here are vintage photos of Smith's model and floor plan, courtesy of Robert. (click on image to enlarge)


Francie returned home with the plans and Don built the house almost identical to Smith's, only changing; sizes of specific spaces for buyers needs, siding types, using Reynolds Aluminum windows, offering smaller patios, landscaping by Stuart Mertz and Associates (out of St. Louis MO) and per Don "engineering the house to take ten feet of snow". He liked this plan because of it's sense of structure and lovingly called them "Flatties". He built one to "model" and sold more than he had lots...quickly fixing that with J.C. Nichols, he still had to deal with the concern for flat roofs and FHA Financing issues. The house below is one of the best preserved of all the "Flatties". So much of the original classic 1950's landscaping has "grown out" and wasn't replaced...the crab trees,tulip trees and junipers softened the edges...

Drummond built culdesacs of his "Flatties" at 71st Terrace and Mission, now demolished for a Care Center, but that's another story, and 75th and Ash...the west side of the street demolished for additional daycare space for the adjacent church and a fire wiping out another on the east side of the street. There are a few on Rosewood also.

This one sports shutters and a bay window with leaded glass and converted garage, an 80's redo, note the "Flattie" behind and to the left with yellow trim... the photo below has trees that obscure the breaks in the facade but reveals the vinyl siding and replacement windows.

Don said "once I put tops on, I sold more" , meaning I guess, he got extra mileage out of the plan by putting hip roofs on the houses. Today many of these houses are considered "old" looking, but in their day and with appreciative owners today, they can look pretty cool and still provide a great sense of space and economy. The house below was redone in the late 1970's by altering the entry and adding a front deck and sliding doors where the "picture" window was, still looking nice today... Interesting to note, this was the first house that connected Don to Eichler and later led to both their work with Case Study architects Jones and Emmons from California...

Drummond's First Houses - Prairie Village, KS - The J.C. Nichols Connection - Part Two

This is a current photo of Don Drummond's first house in Kansas. Not necessarily what we think of as a "Modern" house, but it had many new distinctive features of it's day. (Click on Images to Enlarge) It also is the beginning of a significant relationship between builder and architect. After WWII, in 1946, Don had been building smaller, lesser expensive houses in KCMO...wanting to grow his business, he was encouraged by his Father-in-Law, Judge Woodruff to build in the emerging community of "Prairie Village" in the Country Club District as it was called by J.C. Nichols. In 1946-47, Don built his own home as a model to live in and to show to potential clients. With "Mr. Nichols" urging him to have an architect design his houses, Don engaged David Runnells to design his first home in PV. Don and his wife, Francie had met David Runnells, when Francie was on the Land Planning Committee for the "Western" Highway, known as 56 Hwy or Hwy 50 then, or now known as Shawnee Mission Parkway. Nichols was not a modernist, though he did believe in new home innovations, he was more concerned with what would sell and in his opinion maintain property values in his developments. Though not modern looking, the house had some pretty unique features such as the brick wall at the entry which continued inside, kitchen in the front and the living area with fireplace in the rear of the house with what would then be considered a lot of windows. Don tells a story of a rumor in the neighborhood that "peeping toms had moved in" so they could watch the actions of their neighbors...he laughed and said, " it took some getting used to for people as I built others in the neighborhood".... We have a 1947 promotional film showing this house with stained siding, the ample windows in back, kids riding trikes in the driveway and cars driving down 67th St. near Delmar, kicking up dust on the gravel road...hardly any trees in sight...just imagine PV without trees... the Drummonds stayed here until they moved into their Runnells designed modern house near 69th and Belinder in 1951.

Drummond's First Houses - Prairie Village, KS - The J.C. Nichols Connection - Part One

I love "First-Ring" suburbs. You can find the coolest MCM houses, not to mention interesting shopping areas, schools and churches. Since so many of the houses we have researched are in Prairie Village, KS it seemed like it would be interesting to explore it's early years. J.C. Nichols, the "father" of the internationally renowned Country Club Plaza Shopping District wanted to expand his company's developments into Kansas from nearby Missouri. He had already established Mission Hills as a place for the affluent. His desire was to build another community with shopping and recreation. These images are from an original promotional brochure.
After numerous attempts he finally purchased Elisabeth Porter's farm. With a promise to build her a house and enough land for an ample garden he sealed the deal. (This was the sister of the Porter that sold Nichols land around the area of Tomahawk and Roe, where Porter Park is today.)

This was not a "production" house from Nichols, but one of the best looking Cape Cods he built in P.V., it was all-brick, nicely scaled and because of it's location had a presence as the "Gatehouse" to the "Village", Nichols' shopping center. Definitely Nichols took advantage of this as a marketing strategy.

The land was platted and ready for construction when World War II began. Nichols called his new development "Prairie Village" in the Country Club District, associating this neighborhood with others he had created in KCMO, just across State Line Rd. With a "pent up" market of buyers returning from the military after the war ended, construction burst into action in 1946. The subdivision stretched from 67th street south to 71 street, Mission Rd to Roe. A total of 1776 houses were built in the sub-division. Prairie Village officially became a city in 1951, when 75th St was a dirt road west of Colonial Dr.(Click on images to enlarge)
Just look at the benefits a returning veteran could realize purchasing a house, with $257.53 cash required, a Vet would have a house payment of $68.15 on a 25 year loan, compared with a non-veteran FHA loan requiring $2683.33 in cash for a house payment of $67.93 (both payments do not include taxes and insurance)
Nichols, as usual, planned to build a shopping area adjacent to the residential community. In most of his communities it seems that all roads lead to his shopping districts.
This shows the original plan for the Prairie Village Shopping Center. Interesting to note the original location of the grocery store and drug store, very different than today...too bad we didn't get that theater!
As J.C. Nichols Company acquired more land to develop, he assembled an "All-Star" team of builders( as seen in the first image), many a generation or two in the business, and most, if not all, recognizable names today. Note Don Drummond, top row, third from left...to be continued...

Don Drummond's "Home for You in '52" - Modern Photo of the Week

In honor of KCMODERN's recognition for helping with the first ranch house survey in Kansas, I thought I would post one of our favorite ranch houses.

Name: "Home for You in '52" (modified L version)
Designer: Francie Drummond with Gier Sloan
Year Designed: circa 1950-51
Builder: Don Drummond
Year Built: 1955-56
Size: 1362 sq. ft. 3 bedroom 2 bath
Location: Prairie Village, KS
Type: Residential
Style: California Ranch
Status: Good
Photographer: Robert McLaughlin

While this photo may look like it was circa 1959, it was really taken on June 24, 2007, during the "Drummond + Weekend" House Tour in Prairie Village, Kansas.

This home was designed by Francie Drummond with the help of Gier Sloan and built by Don Drummond at multiple locations in both Kansas and Missouri. The straight version of this house was called the "Home for You in '52" in a 1951, Better Homes and Gardens magazine article. Sometime after that, the design was reworked into this L-shaped version so that it would fit on smaller lots.

The car is a 1959 Buick Electra and it belonged to one of the members of the local Buick club.