A castle with one kitchen drawer: Meet the 2017 Symphony Designers’ Showhouse

When Casey and Abby Ventrillo bought the house at 816 Gleed Terrace in Kansas City’s Central Hyde Park, their neighbors in a Parkville subdivision started calling her Downtown Abby.

Abby had fallen madly in love with the elegant, 108-year-old home two miles southeast of downtown Kansas City and decided she had to have it even though she and Casey were happy homeowners in Parkville.

The Ventrillos told my husband and me this one evening about three months ago over drinks on their new front porch. We live in Central Hyde Park, and Casey and Abby are our new neighbors. They also mentioned that the Kansas City Symphony Alliance had already approached them about using their new home for its 2017 Symphony Designers’ Showhouse.

The three-story home isn’t exactly “Downton Abbey’s” Highclere Castle, though it is regal in its own right, with its limestone exterior, wrap-around porch and clay tile roof. It sits on a hill overlooking the eastern end of a huge, city-owned, beautifully maintained park on Harrison Boulevard just east of Gillham Road. And it’s three blocks from the 2015 Symphony Designers’ Showhouse on Janssen Place.

The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Homes and has been meticulously cared for over the years, with a lot of untouched, original architectural details inside and out.

According to Beverly Shaw, house historian of the Symphony Alliance, the home also has a mural that depicts cowboy life on a wall spanning the staircase from the main floor to the basement. It was created by Larry Richmond, who attended the Kansas City Art Institute in 1925 and reportedly also studied with Grant Wood, painter of the iconic “American Gothic.”

But the home needed updating, particularly in the kitchen, which looked like it had catapulted in from a 1970s split-foyer house and was so tiny that it had just one drawer. I’m not exaggerating. Abby told me this, I didn’t believe her, so she showed me. One kitchen drawer. In a 5,600-square-foot, six-bedroom mansion.

Casey and Abby said yes to the alliance and, just a few weeks after moving into 816 Gleed, they moved out so interior designers could bid on the rooms and the building, painting and decorating could commence.

Casey and Abby hedged a bit when deciding to turn their home over to the alliance. They wondered if it was too good to be true. I told them what I knew: Whatever the designers bring in that isn’t nailed down (furniture, rugs, accessories) and Wilson lighting fixtures, Casey and Abby would have to buy — usually at below retail price — or the designers would remove them afterward.

Anything that is “nailed” down or custom-made would stay. That means they’d get a nice new paint job, custom window treatments from Hunter-Douglas, lots of professional decorating ideas and a magazine-worthy kitchen that they’d have to contribute money to, but at a much lower price than if they hired someone to do it.

I also told them they’d probably want to take measures to ensure the electrical and plumbing work is up to their standards, and not to rely on the designers to do so. The designers’ primary concern is what the place looks like for three weeks, not how long or how well the inner workings function.

The finished home will be open to the public April 22 through May 14, 2017. Tickets will go on sale in January online and at various ticket outlets.

The Symphony Designers’ Showhouse, now in its 48th year, has raised more than $5 million for the Kansas City Symphony.

Because Abby and Casey are my friends, I am passing the story over to a freelancer. So stay tuned as the tour draws near.

This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 8:00 AM with the headline "A castle with one kitchen drawer: Meet the 2017 Symphony Designers’ Showhouse."