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Corinthian Hall, one of Kansas City’s largest and most well-known residences, began its life not as a plan for a mansion, but as a plan for a stable. Since Robert Long’s collection of horses and carriages had outgrown his existing facilities, new housing was necessary, and as his daughter Loula said, “...since a new stable had to be built, Daddy decided that we might as well have a new house, too.”
Starting in 1906, Long began to buy the property on both sides of Gladstone Boulevard between Walrond and Indiana avenues. Though the Edward A. Stevens family wouldn’t be bought out, two houses were moved from the property. These belonged to Judge Hockaday Wallace, who is credited with bringing the James Gang to justice, and Herman Schmelzer, a purveyor of sporting goods and firearms.
The first blueprints produced for the site consisted of a carriage house and stable, not the 50,000 square foot mansion that would eventually sit there. The carriage house, completed in 1908, had enough space for 12 carriages and five grooms. The stables had eight box stalls and four tie stalls, as well as a tack room, trophy room, and a tiled wash room. The carriage house and stables were finished in hard woods and were decorated with oriental rugs and fine artwork.
The focus on horses was a Long family tradition. Robert collected and Loula showed their wide array of horses. The hobby fit well with the Long family’s position among the elite of the era, and Loula often competed against East Coast families such as the DuPonts and Vanderbilts.
A grand architectural plan
Once R.A. Long began construction of his mansion, he employed architect Henry F. Hoit of Hoit, Price and Barnes to design the estate. Hoit, whose firm also built the Kansas City Power and Light Building and the tower at 909 Walnut, created a home based in the Classical Revival style.
Hoit was influenced by a French school of architecture which espoused the melding of multiple historical forms of architectural ornamentation. The spacing and symmetry of the buildings on site reflects the effort to achieve a harmonious perfection of beauty in the total design.
The Long family took advantage of a tour of Europe to eclectically ornament the inside of their new house. They collected pieces from the continent and other countries throughout the world, including statuary and paintings from Florence, water colors from London, Satsuma-ware from Japan, and a large number of clocks from all over.
Desiring the style but not the upkeep required of antique furniture, R.A. Long employed William Baumgarten and Company of New York to furnish Corinthian Hall with reproductions of antique furniture. The total bill for Baumgarten to “furnish and install, complete, certain interior finish, decorations and furnishings” was $175,000 in 1910. Today, some of the furnishings remain as artifacts in dire need of conservation. View artifacts from the grand salon. >>
A breathtaking estate destined to be the Kansas City Museum
The Longs made the grounds around their mansion, carriage house and stables as magnificent as the hall itself. They employed a full-time gardener to keep the estate manicured, and they cultivated plants in the on-site greenhouse and conservatory. A covered walkway, drenched in wisteria, led to the outbuildings and still exists today. Members of Friends of Kansas City Museum can take ‘Hard Hat Tours’ of the Museum estate and Corinthian Hall during the restoration.
The conservatory was designed with a neo-classical appearance, sporting a flat, glass-paned roof; pedimented architraves; pilasters and stone balustrades. Rare orchids, ferns, and tropical plants were grown in the conservatory, which was used during the winter to shelter the ornamental trees lining the walkway.
The elaborate gardens showed R.A. Long’s love of nature, despite his status as a lumber-baron. He was a pioneering conservationist, insisting that the trees cut down by his Long-Bell operations be replaced – “to harvest, not to mine.” Long was credited by a 1934 newspaper article as being “the real father” of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and President Teddy Roosevelt invited him to the first federal conference on resource conservation.
The permanent gardener was just one member of a large staff of domestic servants, grooms, and other people who kept Corinthian Hall running to Long’s standards. When Long and Hoit were designing the house, they anticipated that much of the “help” would live on site, and made the provisions necessary for this. Original blueprints identify nine servant chambers, as well as quarters for the horse trainer and grooms.
At its height, Corinthian Hall boasted at least 25 workers, some of whom are known by name from family memory. Louis Hanson, chauffeur of Long’s Pierce-Arrow limousine, lived on site with his Danish wife Ingebord, and several other members of Hanson’s family were members of the Hall’s staff.
Several members of staff married, including Walter, a butler, who wed Sophie, the cook, and Paul Ellenberger, thought to be a groom, who married Mrs. Long’s personal maid, Mathilda.
Corinthian Hall, which takes its name from the columns of that type which adorn the front portico, was added to the National Historic Register in 1980. It consists of 70 rooms and closets, with 15 baths, on three floors, an attic and a full basement. There are more than 30,000 square feet in the house itself, with more than 20,000 square feet in the other on-site buildings.
The final cost of the entire estate was close to $1 million in 1910 – exceeding $50 million in today's dollars. Corinthian Hall boasted a full-length bowling alley, silver-plated electrical fixtures and gold-plated hardware and bath fixtures, steam heat, along with nine gas fireplaces.
Follow the restoration of Corinthian Hall
The Corinthian Hall mansion and the Carriage House are in Phase 3 of a massive restoration effort at the Museum. The City of Kansas City, Missouri is supporting restoration work on the buildings, while private donations and community support are needed to finance the interior restoration and artifact conservation. An extensive interpretative plan is being developed to explore the potential future historical and educational purposes of the Museum and its collections.
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