Refusing to cave, angry brothers seek to demolish their historic Kansas City mansion

It seemed like the fight over the 110-year-old Kansas City mansion had been settled weeks ago.

Apparently not.

On Thursday, brothers Steven and Matthew Vawter — whose 7,400-square-foot Classical Revival home near the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art was, against their will, designated as historic in September by the Kansas City City Council — are once again going before the Kansas City Historic Preservation Commission to get permission to demolish the house.

Since April, the Vawters, whose family has owned what is known as the George B. Richards mansion for 62 years, have been in a pitched battle with their once-cordial neighbors who believe the stately brick home with its towering white columns and carriage house at 4526 Warwick Blvd. deserves to be preserved.

On Sept. 28, the City Council agreed with the neighbors, placing the home on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places. The move was the first time in city history that a private home was designated as historic against the will of its owners. Such a designation means the owners cannot make any alterations to the structure’s exterior (let alone raze it) without first receiving a “certificate of appropriateness” from the city’s historic preservation commission.

If the owners are granted the “certificate of appropriateness,” they could tear the house down immediately. If the certificate is denied, the Vawters would have an opportunity to raze the house in three years.

The Vawters say they’ll knock the house down, either now or three years from now.

Convinced that the empty land is worth more than the house, the Vawters want to raze the structure, get the 0.9-acre plot rezoned to commercial use, and then sell the property for maximum value for a commercial development, such as an apartment building.

In July, the family entered into a contract with a local developer, George Birt, who agreed to buy the property for $1.9 million, but contingent on having no historic designation and getting the property rezoned for commercial use.

Neighbors, meanwhile, keep urging the Vawters to try to sell the house on the residential market, as is, for an alternative use.

In April, neighbors Ryan Hiser and his partner, David Tran, offered the brothers $1.25 million for the house, with the idea of turning it into a boutique hotel. Hiser and Tran already own two bed-and-breakfast boutique hotels in the Southmoreland neighborhood, both created from stately old homes. They include The Truitt Hotel, at 4320 Oak St., and The Aida Hotel KC, at 206 E. 44th St.

The Vawters turned down the offer as far too little. They continue to insist that the home, with its outdated heating, plumbing and electricity, and some structural problems, is not salable on the residential market. Now, they say, it is likely to fall into further decay.

“By designating this as historic, it all but guarantees that this house will sit vacant for three years, thus attracting vandals and vagrants,” the Vawters said in a letter filed with the historic commission. The letter includes photos of broken windows along with blankets and trash around the house, suggesting a trespasser has been sleeping outside the mansion. “The Southmoreland neighborhood wants to avoid a vacant lot, but … having a structure on this property is actually worse in terms of vagrancy than an empty lot.”

Steve Vawter told The Star, “We feel like we’ve been unfairly treated. … If we have to sit on it for three years and let that historic designation expire, we’ll do it. This is going to promote vagrancy and vandalism. That’s exactly what the neighborhood doesn’t want.”

As before, the Vawters point out that their house is the only single-family residential home remaining in their section of Southmoreland. Multiple multifamily buildings, including the 12-story Oak Hall, stand nearby.

Part of their petition, prepared by attorney Greer S. Lang, of the firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, also claims that the city’s historic designation process is being misused against the Vawters. They claim the application for historic designation was “merely part of a self-interested strategy by Mr. (Ryan) Hiser to try an force the Vawters to sell the property on high unfavorable terms, far below the fair market value of the land.”

Lang asserts that although Hiser repeatedly told city officials that he was no longer interested in the property, he nonetheless renewed his offer of $1.25 million on the house one week after it was designated as historic.

“Given the bad precedent now set by the City’s passage of the Ordinance,” Lang wrote, “there undoubtedly (will) be more unscrupulous buyers who, like Mr. Hiser, will further ‘weaponize’ and improperly use the historical designation process (with the City as their willing partner) to try and force unwilling homeowners, under duress and at considerable personal expense, to sell their properties at a fraction of their actual values.

“For the record, the Vawters have told Mr. Hiser and his broker ‘no thanks.’”

The Vawters’ legal team previously said they would go to court if necessary.

Hiser told The Star he renewed his offer of $1.25 million because, as before, he only wants to save a beautiful house. If he had purchased it, he has no intention of knocking it down and putting up a high-rise.

“That’s not our goal. And you can hold me to that,’ Hiser said Monday. “That’s not one of our beliefs. What we buy, we have to love it. And we’re in it with the community and the neighborhood. Everything we’ve done — any project we’ve done — we always go to the neighborhood.”

Built in 1913 for George B. Richards, the wealthy owner of the Richards & Conover Hardware Co., the home is fronted by four Corinthian columns, a portico and white balustrade. It has five bedrooms, three and a half baths, a sweeping center staircase and carved plaster ceilings. It was designed by the architectural firm of Root & Seimens.

If the Vawters want to sell, Hiser said, he and Tran are willing to buy.

“I could have the money to go,” he said. “I would love to save that property. I really would. If I’m not the one to save it, I hope someone would. If they want to sell it, that’s great. If not, that’s great, too.”

Both the Southmoreland Neighborhood Association and the nonprofit Historic Kansas City Foundation have urged their members to speak against the family’s application seeking demolition. The Historic Preservation Commission hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday.