What will you find in Kansas City’s million dollar mansions?

Once in awhile, we offer a glimpse of million dollar mansions in the Kansas City area by touring them and carefully chronicling their grandeur.

We’ve noticed that they all seem to have several high-dollar features.

We’re not saying all Kansas City mansions have them. And one or two can probably be found in a lot of more modest homes. But KC’s mansions are loaded. How else are owners going to fill all that space?

Dog washing stations

Wealthy people love dogs as much as the rest of us, but they don’t want them trouncing around with dirty paws on their custom sofas upholstered in $200-a-yard fabric. The solution? An easy-entry tub in the laundry or mud room of their mansions for bathing Fido and Fluffy.

Temperature controlled wine cellars

Some wine connoisseurs have large rooms with a temperature hovering around 55 degrees, hundreds of bottles of wine, a tasting station and a computer to keep track of vintners, varieties and years.

Movie theaters

Homes with their own movie theaters often feature giant screens, state-of-the-art projectors, reclining seats with cup holders, surround-sound systems and, quite often, a vintage-style popcorn maker tucked into a corner.

Wood-paneled libraries

These are often cozy rooms with dark, rich wood paneling, brass accessories and sometimes, books. They often look like an expensive men’s club.

High-end recreation rooms

Kansas City mansions usually have a large room dedicated solely to recreation that usually has a high-end billiard table as its centerpiece, a giant-screen television and full-size bar. There’s often an assortment of other toys, including ping-pong or foosball tables, pinball machines, vintage video games (such as Pac Man) and poker tables.

Swimming pools

Mansions are hardly complete without the Hollywood glamor of a large in-ground pool lined with expensive tile and surrounded by Old World architectural features and plush outdoor seating. There’s often a cabana or big stone fireplace with a wet bar and outdoor kitchen nearby.

Spa-like master bathrooms

Showers have been turned into chichi spas with dual rain shower heads, built-in seating, marble tile and slabs and a sauna system. As a bonus, there’s almost always an equally luxurious standalone tub nearby that shoots water from jets or creates fizzy Champagne-like bubbles.

Formal dining rooms

While the national trend in home building and remodeling has embraced open floor plans with no walls between the living room, kitchen and dining room, mansions almost always have formal dining rooms, often with ornate chandeliers, antique dining sets and expensive drapes.

Room-sized closets

Not only are they big, but they’re beautiful, with wood paneling and custom cabinets that look like something out of a high-end clothing boutique or haberdashery.

Very long kitchen islands

Just in case the eight-person table in the eat-in kitchen and the 16-person table in the formal dining room aren’t enough, mansions often have extra seating in the form of a long kitchen island with a countertop made of lava stone or an exotic marble or granite.

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 7:00 AM.