Built Ca. 1903 Area 32 ha Architectural style Victorian architecture | NRHP Reference # 80002362 Phone +1 816-931-5722 Added to NRHP 21 November 1980 | |
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Address 3616 Belleview Ave, Kansas City, MO 64111, USA Similar Gen John J Pershing Boyhood, Confederate Memorial State Hist, Clark's Hill/Norton State Hist, Jewell Cemetery State Hist, Locust Creek Covered | ||
The Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site is a state-owned property located at 3616 Belleview, Kansas City, Missouri, that preserves the house and studio of Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton. The historic site was established in 1977 and is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Tours are provided that show the furnished house and studio as Benton left it when he died on January 19, 1975. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
History
The property was built in Kansas City's Roanoke Park neighborhood around 1903. Although not overly large, the house has a fortress-like appearance owing to its elevation above street level and the random ashlar masonry of its limestone front.
The house was built for Walter E. Kirkpatrick. The architect was George Mathews, a proponent of the City Beautiful movement. Kirkpatrick was the secretary and treasurer for the Kansas City Electric Light Company, and on the board of directors of the KC Street Railway Company. The home is approximately 7800 square feet on 3 1⁄2 floors, containing 24 rooms, 4 fireplaces on 3 chimneys, and a full finished basement. The Benton family purchased the 1⁄3-acre property in 1939 for $6000.