2025 KC Symphony Designers’ Showhouse reboots a 1906 masterpiece. See inside
The formula for the annual Symphony Designers’ Showhouse hasn’t changed greatly in 55 years.
It starts with selecting a home whose owners are willing to turn it over to a team of designers. They reboot it room by room and display their efforts to benefit the Kansas City Symphony.
This year’s model is a 9,100 square foot Elizabethan structure at 3621 Belleview Avenue, in Kansas City, directly across the the street from the Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site.
It was originally built for William Dever Johnson, a livestock trader, in 1906. He and his family entertained there often until they moved in 1914.
In the ensuing 111 years, the house has had only three other owners. And yes, Mr. Benton did apparently attend some parties there.
Tim and Julie Steele purchased the home in May 2024, and immediately offered it up for use as a showhouse.
Peggy Jacobson, vice president of the KC Symphony Alliance says that was something on Dr. Steele’s “bucket list.” And that “he wanted to bring the house up to the next level to live on for another 150 years.”
The Designer’s Showhouse has rules and regulations about how much a home’s original touches can be altered.. At the same time, designers are encouraged to let their creativity flow—to re-imagine the rooms in ways that are both pleasing and potentially inspirational. (The event’s program notes the paint colors used in each room.)
With a grand ballroom on the third floor, a basement speakeasy and game room, not to mention a seasonal porch and the carriage house, the home’s amenities are considerable.
In fact, Jacobson says it’s the largest they’ve worked with in at least 30 years, adding that, “It’s probably been our most challenging because of all the construction. Redoing the kitchen and three bathrooms.“
By the time the doors close on May 18, thousands of visitors will have passed through the hallways and toured the turrets of this year’s showhouse. That includes hundreds of high school students who visited in January, created designs of their own and then return to compare them to those of the pros.
At Johnson County Community College, students vie for spots in a class that actually designs one of the rooms.
“It’s a Kansas City tradition,” Jacobson says—”It’s one of the longest running showhouses in the country, and all of our profits go to the general fund of the Kansas City Symphony to help in any way that’s needed.”
The 2025 Designers’ Showhouse will be open through May 18. Ticket information can be found on the showhouse website.
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