KCRag Forum

chaglang wrote:1311 Manheim was sold to a new owner about a month ago. A dumpster full of junk has already been hauled away and the new owner plans on reroofing is ASAP. Best news about that house in several years.

That is good news.

Update: several more dumpsters of junk have been hauled away over the last few weeks. There was a little reroofing work done. The biggest change is that the windows are being replaced with vinyl. It doesn't look great, but I have no idea what the condition of the existing windows was (likely not good). I'm getting the feeling that there are going to be a lot of compromises like that on this renovation- the house was so far gone that it would have been astronomically expensive to replace everything to match the original. It'll keep the building standing, which is the bigger issue.

1311 Manheim is for sale again. Not much progress on the interior restoration. Real estate agent says the roof has been repaired.

The interior is a complete mess. Much further gone that I had imagined.

https://www.reecenichols.com/homes-for- ... -269818927

You can tell it would've been an impressive interior when new. Very sad

I found this Facebook page showing progress on the Victor Beutner house at 1311 Manheim. It is starting to look good again. The outside stucco and painting appears done. There is still a lot work on the inside.

In addition to the photo, if you scroll down you will see some videos. Close the theater box first.

https://www.facebook.com/upliferealesta ... =3&theater

Wow! I was sure this was doomed to the scrap heap. This spectacular home and its location is the best billboard for single family home revival betweeen Troost and Paseo that money could every buy.

Flipping through those photos and seeing the suburban, new construction photos interspersed with the Curtiss renovation photos makes me really curious about how the developer ended up investing in a wreck of a house on east 39th St.

Back then, houses were crafted, not slapped together like now. That's why that house was still standing, even in the shape it sat pre renovation.

Steve52 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2019 6:55 pm Back then, houses were crafted, not slapped together like now. That's why that house was still standing, even in the shape it sat pre renovation.

Approx 1 in 25 people in 1920-1940 lived in an assembly line manufactured kit home. (100,000 kit homes made in 30 years, population avg of about 100 million, family size of around 4)

Homes are more likely to be hand made today than 100 years ago. They're also far more likely to survive. Treated sill plates alone will keep more houses from falling down than back then, rot being a huge contributor to building collapse. Look at how many 1920s homes we lost by 1970 but the 1970s suburbs are still standing 50 years later.

Steve52 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2019 6:55 pm Back then, houses were crafted, not slapped together like now. That's why that house was still standing, even in the shape it sat pre renovation.

The exterior walls being made of concrete no doubt helped.

A Louis Curtiss-designed residence, Brumback House (1909), will have a public preview January 11, 12, 18 & 19 as part of the Kansas City Symphony's 51st Designer Showhouse. The address is 500 E. 36th Street in Hyde Park.

https://www.facebook.com/KansasCitySymp ... =3&theater

There are several updates to the renovation of the Victor Beutner house at 1311 Manheim at the link below. Scroll down the page to find them, and there are several video tours (some very recent). It appears the house will be ready for sale in January.

https://www.facebook.com/upliferealestate/

Photo update.

Damn, that is a handsome looking home. TBT


https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/? ... SEARCH_BOX

Back on the market as of today.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1311 ... 0045_zpid/?

Hopefully this home gets picked up by a serious buyer in this red hot market right now.

That very rough textured stucco really bothers me. And the varying thicknesses give it a crude "Flinstones" sloppiness.

This home on 36th St in Central Hyde Park is supposedly a Louis Curtiss. The exterior is pretty non-descript, but the interior has some nice features. It is pending sale, listed at $950k. It was the Symphony Showhouse this year, which was cancelled, but there is a video tour on youtube.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/500- ... 1357_zpid/

There doesn't seem to be any solid evidence that the Squier Park house is a Curtiss.

NPS Form 10-900
OMB No. 1024-001 (Expires 5/31/2012) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 42

Squier Park Historic District
Historic Residential Suburbs in the United States, 1830-1960 MPDF Jackson County, Missouri
...
154. 1311 Manheim Avenue
Contributing
Victor Beutner Residence
1911
Prairie
Architect: Louis Curtiss
Builder: Victor Beutner

This 2 story house with a flat roof has an irregular floor plan, designed by Louis Curtiss in the Prairie School style. The design is integrated into the landscape. It is clad in stucco and there is unusual criss-cross wood trim along the tops of all windows. The windows are grouped in horizontal bands throughout the house. Decorative carved concrete or stucco adorn the façade. Stone walls lead up to the west wing of the house. The lot is large, with aged trees.

https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/12000232.pdf

https://www.historickansascity.org/hist ... ndangered/

There is no evidence that Victor Beutner was an architect, or designed the house.

Beutner was a Vice President for the Altoona Portland Cement Company, which had an office in the Commerce Building downtown.

He appears to have been a mechanical engineer.

https://books.google.com/books?id=SRc6A ... ri&f=false

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Th ... frontcover

Hmmm. I see what the NR says but I also remember an extensive search for verification turning up nothing. Either way, it's an interesting building.