Building on the Past

March 12, 2025

Infill lots in KC’s oldest neighborhoods inspire designers with modern interpretations.

Words by Megan Felling

ocation is a calling card of Kansas City’s favorite downtown and midtown neighborhoods, enticing buyers to their walkable streets and vibrant communities, but architectural opportunity is what entices designers and builders. Some riff off historical details, renovating or rebuilding in similar scale and style, while others create something entirely new, starting fresh on an infill lot. Either way, they create homes that function for the way families live today.

Westside

High on the bluffs just west of downtown, displaying phenomenal views of the Kansas City skyline, the Westside North and South neighborhoods sit roughly between I-670 to the north and 31st Street to the south, between Broadway Boulevard and Beardsley/State Line, adjacent to the Crossroads Arts District. With a strong Latino culture, frequent festivals and many community centers, it’s a family-friendly place where multiple generations and income levels live side by side. The housing stock includes older Victorian homes and bungalows, alongside affordable new townhomes and modern custom homes.

“It has a true neighborhood vibe—the energy is great,” says Troy Moore, chief experience officer and owner of Madi Mali Homes. “You’ll see people out walking and visiting with neighbors.”

He and his wife purchased a lot for sale that offered the “best 270-degree views of downtown” to build an experiential showhouse for their business—and a home for themselves. As recent empty-nesters, they wanted to move back to the urban core.

The Moores envisioned their company’s design studio on the lower level of a new build, while the remaining three floors would serve as their custom residence and entertaining space, complete with a rooftop terrace overlooking downtown and Crown Center. The design is considerate of surrounding homes while clearly a modern interpretation.

“We didn’t want to be too trendy—we wanted to feature cutting-edge technology that would complement more traditional architectural elements like wainscotting and ornate casing, melding the two styles,” Moore explains.

The lot is only 50 feet wide, so building vertically would accommodate each floor’s function. Construction on infill lots requires additional considerations. For instance, Moore notes that since the lot is at the top of a hill, sewer lines were 18-feet below and the streets had to be cut and extra shoring added. And because maintaining the view was a top priority, he partnered with Evergy to bury power lines.

Hermanos Design Build Studio took a different tack in the neighborhood. The firm specializes in adaptive-reuse projects, especially renovating older masonry buildings. They recently won an AIA award for the renovation of a Victorian home featured on the previous page.

Talk about a room with a view! All eyes are focused on the streamlined update to this historic house in Westside. From the before and after photos below, one can see the modern facelift that Hermanos Design gave to a Victorian home while maintaining its integrity. Photos by Aaron Dougherty.

Josh Hartman, an architect with Hermanos, says the project entailed renovating the third-floor balcony and attic space that the homeowners wanted to expand for entertaining. They removed the gabled end of the structure and vaulted the new space to incorporate large expanses of glass to maximize the views.

“We were attempting to mix the flavor of the older home with the newer portion,” Hartman explains. “We kept the ornate details and a repeating pattern around the gable then added metal for a modern look and contrast. It was an obvious cut between the old and new. When doing a renovation in a historic neighborhood, the goal is to bring back history in a modern way and breathe new life into the home.”

The Edward Franklin Building Company’s philosophy is similar. The company brings modern living to established neighborhoods by designing and building in harmony with the area. The concept isn’t to replace existing character but rather to re-energize it with new custom homes, remodels and additions that add to the existing aesthetic.

One example is Franklin Heights at 21st and Belleview. These two-and-a-half story new-construction row homes have a modern spin on classic design, featuring open-concept layouts, large picture windows, multiple outdoor access points and updated materials like standing-seam aluminum roofing.

“We aim to build and create homes that are a part of the neighborhood fabric in the places we work by infusing the character and personality already existing in these areas,” says managing partner Grant Baumgartner. “We want to build a home with character that blends in and doesn’t stand out from the existing homes on the street but that has a more modern feel on the inside.”

Another example of their vision is the modern version of a classic bungalow at 20th and Summit. Several sleek area homes feature a contemporary flair but are reminiscent of the historic shotgun style. Highlighted by large covered front porches and streamlined wood and metal accents, the homes have been warmly accepted by the neighborhood residents.

“The community cares about what is happening; there can be generational residents,” Baumgartner says. “We’ve found that involving the neighbors, being transparent and listening, engaging them in a positive way goes a long way toward having a successful project.”

West Plaza

Nestled west of the Country Club Plaza and south of Westport, West Plaza is a vibrant neighborhood with a strong community association and is home to historic bungalows and shirtwaists mixed with modern new builds. The hilly terrain makes for steep building lots, and many homes require stone retaining walls in the front yard.

Dominique Davison, managing principal of DRAW Architecture + Urban Design, first fell in love with West Plaza when she and her husband were researching areas to live when they moved to Kansas City. They purchased and completed a major renovation on a home for themselves and have since constructed several new homes on infill lots for clients in the vicinity.

“Urban infill lots give you so much to work with,” Davison notes. “In the historic areas, you can push the scale, but it’s important to maintain the integrity of the neighborhoods. We do studies on roof heights, and the building setbacks can be tricky. The ratio of home-to-land is definitely something to pay attention to so it doesn’t feel too tight. We are urban planners as well as architects, so we try to design what feels good and to note how the space between buildings affects the light.”

For one of their clients, views of the Country Club Plaza drove the design. Although it’s a modern design, the house refers to the context of the area. DRAW preserved hints of the original structure’s character by maintaining an existing limestone retaining wall and designing the new house within the existing grade. Large porches connect the clients to the landscape, while a second-story roof deck adds luxurious outdoor living space with a view.

“We’ve found that clients want a design partner to help create a house that is functional yet beautiful and suits the way they live in their home—whether that is with an expanded kitchen or space to accommodate an art collection—it really varies,” Davison says.

Beacon Hill

Located between 22nd Street and 31st Street and Troost Avenue to The Paseo, with easy access to downtown and Crown Center, Beacon Hill stretches back to the nineteenth century. This historic neighborhood retains a mix of architectural styles to this day.

A section of Troost Avenue once known as Millionaire’s Row was eventually developed into a commercial corridor. What was once largely an African-American neighborhood with many vacant lots and abandoned homes is now experiencing an urban renaissance thanks largely to investments in projects by the City of Kansas City, as well as UMKC student housing and apartments.

As part of the ongoing effort to revitalize the Troost corridor, DRAW led a neighborhood master-planning process for the 27th & Troost redevelopment, crafting an urban-design plan centering on shared streets and low-impact development principles, reflecting residents’ desire for a walkable, socially vibrant neighborhood.

DRAW also was involved in the full architectural services, interior design and urban design for the new multifamily/mixed-use Marcato. The brick street-side façade is dynamic but also fits its place and time. Inside, 120 apartments feature nine-foot ceilings, energy-efficient appliances and modern finishes.

“I love the Beacon Hill community,” Davison says. “We have built more than a dozen houses in this neighborhood, some custom for clients who specifically wanted this area and others on spec. Our homes tend to be a warm modern, with an indoor-outdoor connection, suited to how people live day to day, with some special or unique features—nothing we do is cookie-cutter.”

When designing within these historic neighborhoods, designers and builders have found it possible—even preferable—to build upon the essence of the past while improving the quality of homes to meet the new demands of today.