The Colonnaded walk-up flat, a Kansas City original

as i have mentioned before in a couple of my posts i grew up in a very small town in the south east corner of kansas. i am very much a small town girl at heart but have always loved the excitement and hustle and bustle of a big city. when i was small my parents who are artists would take me to KC (the big city) with them to the plater they used to plate their line of belt buckles, bracelets and necklaces. throughout my youth and now as an adult I have always loved visiting kansas city. I try to get back at least once a year to see my best friend lori (who lives in a historic apartment close to downtown) and the rest of our lovely group of girlfriends that reside in and around the city. my last trip to KC was this last summer; i remember seeing the below apartment building and thinking to myself, wow, what great buildings! i was happy to see that the largest of the design blogs, apartment therapy had picked up the story on the colonnaded walk-up flats today by janette crwaford. i of course had to repost here on our blog. KC in my opinion it is a silent cultural hub. people don't really think of kansas as having any culture at all, only farms and miles and miles of flat land. i would highly recommend a visit to KC if you have a chance. i will blog about the cool places of KC in tomorrows blog. check back! amanda

Revolutionary apartment style made urban living more fashionable.

Colonnade styles

The Colonnaded apartments' most distinguishing feature is their four front columns, which support stacks of front porches, one for each unit. But the apartments share many other features as well.

Their units all have the same basic layout: a large front room and dining room, two to three bedrooms, a bath on the side, a narrow rear kitchen, and sometimes a den off the front. Large windows let in lots of natural light, and large front rooms were designed for entertaining. The buildings all have a windowed central staircase. Many have friendly building names posted above the front doors, like "Madison" or "Libbie."

But while the basic structure and layout of the buildings are similar, both the interiors and exteriors of Colonnades can vary significantly — which is not surprising given the fact that the apartments were built over a 30-year period.

"A lot of architectural styles happened during that time: Arts & Crafts, Colonial Revival, Beaux-Arts and Art Deco," said Zweifler, who has a degree in architectural design and restoration.

In general, unless a building was designed by an architect with a signature style, it didn't reflect purist style in any of the above categories, he said. In the Colonnade Zweifler is restoring, which was built in 1912, the exterior is Arts & Crafts but the interior has Colonial Revival elements.

"They just put in what was popular," he said. to read more.

an old postcard showing a set of colonnade apartments on armour boulevard in kansas city,mo.

A view looking east along Armour Boulevard, which was flanked by Colonnade apartments.

This postcard depicts the view near The Paseo and 12th Street, with Colonnaded apartment buildings in the background.