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

Cliff May-Architect...She Said...Part One




Mrs. C, an elderly friend living near 66th Terrace and Nall, Prairie Village KS kept saying her and her husband, Bob, had built a "Cliff May" house. It has redwood siding, heavy cedar shake roof and nice bones with lots of southside windows and a beautiful backyard. Though I am quite familiar with May's work, she convinced me enough to think they had a "Sunset" magazine house design. She showed me pictures in vintage magazines with Cabot's Ranch House Stains featuring May houses. I became very curious annd delved in deeper. As it turned out and after many attempts to see her house plans, I discovered the house was designed in 1954 by Linscott and Haylett, built by Wm. V. Powell Construction, who Mrs. C quoted as saying, "you don't want to live in a barn", and with that talked them out of vaulted ceilings. The house plans couldn't be found but a preliminary plan was found showing the house reversed with a front entry instead of a side entry garage. This is a great mid-century ranch, with private and public areas seperated nicely, both giving onto the wonderful rear terrace designed by Hare and Hare in 1959. The Hare and Hare landscape design firm did an extensive design for the terrace, pergola room and landscaping. I'll feature that in a future post...

Cumonow Residence by Kivett and Myers, Architects - Rambling Ranch House - Modern Photo of the Week


Name: Cumonow Residence
Architect: Kivett and Myers
Year Designed: 1951
Builder: Unknown
Year Built: 1951
Size: 3400 sq. ft. (720 sq. ft. on lower level)
Location: Mission Hills, Kansas
Type: Residential
Style: California Ranch
Status: Excellent
Photographer: Robert McLaughlin

This large Rambling Ranch built by the Cumonow Family is a rare residential example of the work of Kansas City's venerable Modernist Architects, Kivett and Myers. It is said to have been designed by Clarence Kivett himself. It is sited in one of Kansas City's most prestigious neighborhoods right smack next to the site of the Cliff May Mega ranch that was torn down a few years ago. This large brick ranch house steps down to follow its equally large site just like the neighboring Cliff May house did. The question is, can we assume that this fine home is safe?

This home is scheduled to be on the upcoming Out and About Wright: Kansas City Tour put on by the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy. More information about the tour at savewright.org

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...

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.

KCMODERN Acknowleged for Involvement In 1950's Ranch House Survey

In the November/December 2008 issue of Kansas Preservation, the magazine published by the Kansas Historical Society, KCModern was acknowledged for helping facilitate a survey by Sally Schwenk and Associates. We provided historical documentation regarding the construction of ranches and their growth in popularity. A neighborhood near 68th and Metcalf in Overland Park, KS wanted to protect themselves from zoning changes that would allow multi-family housing nearby. Passionate about their ranch neighborhood, they initiated the first study on ranches in the state of Kansas. A study is the first step in determining eligibility for an historic designation. KCModern salutes their efforts...(click on image to enlarge)

Modern Photo of the Week - KC Lustron Home


Name: Lustron Home
Architect: Beckman and Blass with Engineer, Carl Strandlund
Year Designed: 1946
Builder: Lustron with unknown local dealer/builder
Year Built: Between 1948 and 1950
Size: Unknown
Location: Kansas City, MO (Valentine Area)
Type: Residential
Style: "One-Story Modified Ranch Style"
Post WWII Prefab Steel Construction
Status: Good
Photographer: Robert McLaughlin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moderns-r-us/3082074943/

More info:

THEN & NOW -- Drummond's First Houses

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I have reason to count my blessings, but I don't think 2008 has been such a great year, so bring on 2009! Okay, sorry about that, back to our cruise of Don Drummond's first houses. . .

Don's in-laws' asked him and his wife, Francie, to design and build them a house near Arno and State Line, KCMO. This would be 1949. They wanted to downsize and customize a house to their lifestyles. The result, as you see here, is a two-story structure, (he built few two stories) of board and brick. An understated facade with exposed structure and a modern sensibility with lots of large windows, especially on the rear or southside. Note the larger glazed area on the second floor for northern light to help facilitate Mrs. Woodruff's painting.

IT'S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE THIS AREA WITHOUT A SKYSCAPE OF TREES-
Amazingly, it's in a neighborhood active in build ups, blow outs and insensitive additions, the house exterior remains intact. Even the diamond leaded windows and one car garage. The homes' simple lines and natural use of materials gives it a unique distinctiveness in a typical traditional neighborhood.
Next we drove by these houses in Prairie Village on 79th Street and Colonial. These houses are versions of the house plan featured in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Called the "Home for You in '52"(actually building them since 1950, with it's success, it was considered an important ranch house design). Designed by Francie Drummond with help from architect, Gier Sloan( He's another story Robert or I will go into) "as suggested by Miller Nichols" of JC Nichols Real Estate Co., who had a strong opinion about how houses should look in his developments.

Awesome tree! Must have been 25-30 years old in vintage photo...don't you love it that you can see the garage on the house on the next street in the background. You get a real feel for the "first-ring" suburbs. Almost looks the same, though no door shutters, and the door has been altered with a sidelight( probably an 80's thing) typical Drummond low chimney.
There were numerous variations of this plan: straightline, as depicted here, L-shaped,2-3 bedroom, 1 car or 2 car garage, dining room, multipurpose room, slab/basement, etc. . . I never saw an original 4 bedroom example. This was the most sought after house plan Drummond built or should I say Drummond built more of this house plan than any other.


Talk about a "skyscape"! Prairie Village is a city of trees, but at one time builders sold lots with "views" of the city, nature, etc. The most striking thing to me is the garage door replacement with a "manufactured" door with raised panels, ugh! The easiest way to impact a "period" home is with poor choices of doors and windows...

Interesting similarities in the grammar to the Woodruffs' house are the stained vertical board siding (often "pecky" cypress or redwood), ribbon windows, kitchen in front and Francie's penchant for function with a "service" entrance into the kitchen area. . . Did I miss anything on my comparisons -- would love to hear your comments. . . to be continued. . .