Taking Shape

Spring 2025

March 12, 2025

Words by Katy Schamberger | Photos by Nate Sheets

Once slated for demolition, a century-old Tudor home begins a new chapter in Mission Hills.

Interview with Trent Gallagher of Reece Nichols

you move through the stately, five-bedroom Tudor home tucked within Mission Hills, you notice stunning focal points and intentional details at every turn. A four-story helix staircase connects every level in the house, part of a grand entryway that beckons with white oak herringbone floors. Warm wood mingles with textural stone; sculptural lighting is artistic and functional; and traditional Tudor features lend gravitas to modernized spaces. It’s hard to believe, then, that this previously gutted home stood as an imposing challenge.

The century-old Tudor only had three previous owners and, within the past several years, was slated for demolition. Then, longtime friends Adam Winters and J. Scott Emerson stepped in to purchase the home and renovate it from top to bottom. They looked beyond the gutted, crumbling interior and saw the heady promise of possibility. They tapped the architecture team at Hoke Ley, drawn by the firm’s globally influenced design perspective, to come aboard. Once the City of Mission Hills approved the restoration plan, Winters, Emerson, Katie Hoke and
Kansas City-based builder Wooglin Brothers began work on the reimagined estate.

“We had a lot of restrictions to meet—for example, any part of the home exterior facing the street had to stay as-is,” says Hoke, a principal and one of the firm’s three founders.

Another significant challenge? Numerous windows, all of which couldn’t be moved or resized. Where others might have been defeated, Hoke instead seized the opportunity.

“When I first toured the home, I knew it would be an amazing challenge,” she says. “I love restoring old homes—you have to be so much more creative, and they’re a lot harder of a puzzle to solve.”

So, what do you do when piles of puzzle pieces are scattered in front of you? You pull up a seat and make a plan. Hoke and her team began thorough research of historic Tudor homes, especially East Coast-based, to understand both design principles and signature details.

A palette of historically authentic materials emerged from that work, including dark walnut, marble-looking quartzite and a dark bronze hardware finish. With a thorough understanding of what came before, Hoke could then introduce her firm’s calling card: luxurious modern homes crafted with an international design perspective.

“The clients pushed us to do something modern, so we looked to a lot of design in Australia—they lead the curve, and other parts of the world follow,” Hoke says. “The client wanted the home to honor the historic Tudor style but look like it wasn’t picked out of a showroom around the corner.”

Squashed between historic home requirements and city site plan restrictions, Hoke needed a plan—literally. As work on the floor plan began, Hoke’s team returned to the fundamentals of home construction and envisioned what clients most often request when they build.

“That led us to two big ideas—a kitchen large enough for gathering and combined with a living space to create a great room, because that’s how families live today,” Hoke says. “We also knew we needed one stair that connects the basement to the attic rather than the three separate staircases that previously existed in the home.”

Emerson and Winters especially favored a modern staircase but eschewed typical design elements like glass or a cable rail. Instead, the team balanced past and present with a gently curving, four-story helix staircase that centralizes light and acoustics in a common connection point.

Tudor Remodel Home Walk Through

As Hoke navigated fire and water damage and the home’s 100-year-old framing (standard sizes today are much larger), a five-bedroom, six-bathroom layout took shape. A wholly reimagined kitchen invites gathering and conversation. Modern appliances are integrated amid frameless back painted glass cabinetry so that your eye is drawn to design, not storage. A floating walnut bar extends from the kitchen island, creating a convenient bridge into the living area.

Additional highlights include two new living spaces and what Hoke describes as one of the “coolest” parts of the home—a third-floor attic transformed into a rec room and a fourth bedroom. The top-floor location shows off the home’s sloping roof lines, lending an architectural airiness to a previously unusable space.

Careful attention to detail creates a striking impression, whether in photos or in person. A signature Tudor distressed arch that frames the bathtub and shower in the primary bathroom echoes the home’s arched entryway. Carefully layered lighting includes under-counter and cabinet fixtures. Fluted casework corners showcase individual pieces of gently curved wood, a Tudor hallmark.

“This home is all about the small details: the longer you’re there, the more you appreciate it and sink into the space,” Hoke says. “Noticing the details helps to create a more focused and intimate experience, whether you’re hosting a festive gathering or simply relaxing at the end of the day.”

In many cases, those details combine for more sophisticated functionality, too. A new dumbwaiter—modeled after the home’s original version—easily transports groceries from the lower-level mudroom entrance to the walk-in pantry. Details also become problem-solvers. Existing windows in the primary suite made a wall-mounted television impossible. The fix? A remote-controlled screen that drops down from the ceiling as you sink into the plush bed for an evening of streaming.

What seemed like such a complex puzzle at first—creating enviable bedrooms, bathrooms and living spaces amid unmoveable windows and other historic constraints—emerged as a beautifully gratifying finished project.

“Despite its original state, the experience now throughout the home is that no consideration or detail has been forgotten,” Hoke says. “It was the true definition of a labor of love.”

Throughout the home, you can feel the loving intention to do what is right and stay true to the essence of the project. The great room could be a church, with the double-volume ceilings, altar-like hearth and a viewing balcony at one end. Buchanan emphasized the ceiling height with a period-appropriate, tiered iron chandelier, and Mahoney found an antique oil painting to go over the fireplace that perfectly captures the mood. Adjacent to the great room, the trophy room—named as such by the original homeowners in the 1920s, as the wife was an acclaimed golfer who holds the Kansas state record of being named the women’s amateur golf champion six times—features an original, restored stone fireplace, “salt block” terracotta tile floor (rumored to be from the local salt mines), hand-hewn beams, pecky cypress window shutters and two dove ornaments, which hang from the ceiling on iron medallions.

“Doves were traditionally used in Spanish architecture as a good omen, and to bring peace and good fortune,” Buchanan says.

In the kitchen, an antique cupboard that Mahoney acquired in Chicago is thoughtfully placed, with custom, gray-scale cabinetry flanking it on either side, creating a decorative shrine of sorts that recalls the idea of past meals created and shared in the home.

The same thoughtful design approach was taken outdoors as well. A dramatic, arched doorway was added to the breezeway and adorned with a custom, decorative iron gate in harmony with the style of the home. The oversized opening frames the view of a sweeping new chimney and invites visitors into the outdoor living space. The back patio was expanded significantly and new stucco retaining walls were added. The new hardscape more appropriately fits the scale of the home and allows Mahoney to easily host large groups of friends and family.

Although almost every aspect of the home has been touched in this renovation—whether expanded, updated or reimagined entirely—and new elements have been added, the home feels as though it has always been like this. Or, that in becoming what it is today, it has finally realized its full potential, which is what we hope for those we love. It is easy to imagine Casa Encantada, as Mahoney has named it, being loved for another 100 years.

Architect: Hoke Ley, @hoke_ley