A Kansas City Real Estate Blog by Realtor, Sarah Snodgrass

The unveiling of the newest Studio 804 house is tomorrow, Saturday, May 16, from 10am-4pm. The address is 3716 Springfield, just west of KU Med Center on 39th Street. The home was built by University of Kansas Students, led by the highly acclaimed executive director of Studio 804, Dan Rockhill.

This weekend is the 12th annual Remodeled Homes Tour in Kansas City. With tickets, you will be allowed into 22 remodeled homes and condos stretching from downtown to Lenexa (view map). There is a list of the homes on tour with a description, the remodeling company who performed the work, and photos on the event website. Mostly these are upper-end kitchen and bath remodels, so for me this is not real research for my house – it is just fun to see and it helps me in my field. Hopefully when I grow up, I can have a fancy kitchen with my St. Charles cabinets and white tin ceiling – but for now I am happy with my little retro kitchen with its hexagonal tiles and chrome fixtures.

Photo is from #14 on the Remodeled Homes Tour - thanks NARI.

I’m sitting here looking out my window from my Plaza Prudential office, and it is darkness. No more colored twinkle lights. How sad to see them go; if only they could stay lit year-round to add a little character and pizazz to our evenings… Ah, well. Below is a photo provided by my good friend Barb. She’s always got her camera on-hand – I love people like that! It was taken from my office window during the Plaza lighting ceremony; if you look close I think you can see the goatee on David Cook’s chin. (j/k)

The annual Parade of Homes is currently underway in our greater metro area. The Parade of Homes features only new home communities (not resale stuff), so most of the neighborhoods on tour are in the suburban outlying areas, but there are a few downtown condo developments that are participating. Also, I’ll be helping out at Mission Cliffs, which is a very pretty new home development in Kansas City, KS, just a short walk from KU Medical Center and the 39th Street shops and restaurants. Some of you may remember that area from a previous post about the studio architecture class at KU that builds modern/modular Dwell magazine type homes – there are a few in that neighborhood. Every development on tour is open daily, and admission is free. It’s a fun & cheap way to see what’s new out there and see the latest in design trends.

I am really not this vain, but my husband had control of the camera all weekend so unfortunately I’m in all the shots. It was not only Labor Day weekend, but my birthday so we tried to get off the beaten path a little bit and have some fun. My birthday wish was to go hiking so I did some research and discovered Weston Bend State Park, which is located just north of Kansas City near Weston, Missouri. The ‘bend’ in the name refers to the bend in the Missouri River near the Park. From several of the trails and the outlook terrace you have panoramic views of the river. There are many different trails in varying length, scenery, condition (both paved and dirt) – and you can either hike or bike. It is a beautiful park, and an excellent day trip from Kansas City, especially if you throw a visit to the shops and wineries of the quaint little town of Weston. The only warnings I have are: wear bug spray (chiggers!), long pants, and some of the trails we tried were covered in spider webs so maybe wait until the middle of the day when the first hikers have already gone through and suffered through it for you. The photo at the bottom is not in Weston as you may have guessed, it is in front of the Nelson-Atkins Museum… we rode down to Town Topic and stopped for some sightseeing along the way.

Urban Mining sent me an email today about the Uptown’s GREEN FEST coming up next week. It’s going to be at the Uptown Theater and in the big lot at the Uptown Shoppes just next door to the north. Those shops were the previous home of the Apple Market, and some other shops that I can’t remember. Evidently the word on the street is that the owner of the Uptown wants to clean it up and make it a more upscale shopping center sans crime and grime. Anyway, it appears the festival will have food, music, and vendors to help you learn about living green…

Thanks for always coming up with something groovy, bon bon girls. I love the retro kitchens and baths they are always writing about. Saw in an older post that one of the girls has been house shopping recently- sure wish I could have helped her because I love clients that appreciate the old charm of the Dible Tudors. Napoleon Dible was one of the first and only builders to build homes especially with women in mind. His homes had colorful and feminine colors in the bathrooms and kitchen (think lots of pink, mint, yellows), built-in ironing closets, laundry chutes and so forth. It was a different time when kitchen appliances were still a new idea and becoming affordable for all. Some of my clients hate these original features and colors, but some absolutely love them – just depends on your style and how nostalgic you may be. I recently remodeled my bathroom and I stuck with the Dible style though I greatly toned down the colors to bring it into the modern times.

Thanks BonBon Blog for calling my attention to the Ink photos of the annual West Eighteenth Street Fashion Show. I had to miss it for the first time this year because I had a previous engagement, but at least I can see the Ink photos and there will be a DVD that I can watch, and, I believe, will probably be for sale probably at Birdies Panties & Swim.

This is one of our best, most beautiful and creative events that goes down in KC, so if you haven’t heard of it or if you have always put off going, then please get down there next year and check it out. It’s one of my favorite things and you will absolutely not regret it. Be sure to buy a seat too – they are totally worth it because they have more and more designers every year and who wants to stand the whole time? Not me.

Last weekend was the annual Urban Tour, a downtown housing tour coordinated by the Kansas City Downtown Council. It is a great way to see what is new in the way of condos lofts and similar new housing projects in our urban core. The tour is free, and it provides free shuttles, which are constantly running so you are never stranded at any building, and you can get on or get off at your leisure. The tour is geared toward the public as a way of advertising new properties and projects, but I do it anyway. I know its cheating because I am a realtor, but what better way to see a bunch of new stuff than by riding a shuttle and learning about the projects from hosts. I don’t have to do any legwork – it’s awesome! Anyway, if you attended – what were some of your favorite places? If you didn’t attend, then try to make it next year. If it is a nice day outside (last weekend was gorgeous weather), then it is a great way to spend a spring day.

I would say my favorite project that I saw for the first time was 2 places (i’m indecisive). First was City Homes at River Market East which are upscale free standing single family homes, and second was The Summit (photo above) which is a condo conversion in the old antique building across from Fervere Bread (by far best bread in town) and Bluebird Bistro. I wish I would have seen First and Main Lofts (photo at left), because I later learned that they have great balconies and are modern in style which is right up my alley, but I missed out. I’ll check them out later. One more of interest was the Union Carbide Condos. They are in a 1930’s Art Deco building at 912 Baltimore. The building is still in renovations and they don’t have any actual finished units to see, but they do have a model showroom. They looked like they were going to be nice and I’m encouraged because the architect is El Dorado which has a great local reputation, plus that is a lovely downtown street.

Not only is it the Friday, but it is Leap Day, and the Year of the Rat. Aren’t we lucky to have an extra day this year? I hope you are making the best of it…

Anyway, I just wanted to leave you a an event for the weekend… I am holding an open house in Prairie Village this Sunday from 1-3pm. The house is a $235,000, 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1 car garage Cape Cod home. It has elegant decor, many updates and it is very clean and comfortable. Plus, it has the perfect sized fenced yard with a nice newer deck and an inviting screened in porch. If you haven’t heard – screened-in porches are THE thing to have. I have a screened porch at my house that we call Club Snodgrass… It’s the happening spot on my block from late March-November. It closes for the Winter though. More on Club Snodgrass later.
Here are some photos of the open house:

I’m holding an open house this Sunday, Feb 10, from 1-3pm, at 4525 w. 74th Place, Prairie Village, Kansas (map). Please stop in for a visit. It is a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house in a fantastic Prairie Village location close to the shops and very centrally located. I really think this is one of the best in that price range – it is well taken care of, updated and stylish, and it has a great finished basement. Plus, it is on a pretty street with a nice size yard. VIEW LISTING DETAILS. See you there!

Powell Gardens is hosting a Garden Symposium at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art on February 22, 23. I received a brochure for it, and as someone who enjoys gardening, it looks very interesting. There are a couple of sessions on Friday the 22nd, but the bulk of the sessions are on the 23rd and they actually look more interesting because they seem a bit more practical – things I can actually learn ideas and tips from which I might be able to use someday (like tips on plant combinations and about hardy plants), though I am very intrigued by Friday’s class on forming and shaping trees into a living chair sculpture which sounds very cool.

Contact Powell Gardens for registration information and more details.