Kansas City has a rich heritage of residential architecture that speaks to its national relevance during the city’s late 19th- and early 20th-century boom years—and to the capabilities of local architects who’d long been overshadowed by their East Coast counterparts.

In an illustrated discussion marking the launch of his book Kansas City Houses, 1885–1938, architecture scholar Michael C. Kathrens spotlights the residential showcases dating to that 50-year golden period and the designers who gave them their distinction. Lending historical context, he traces the development of a once rough-and-tumble town into a city with exclusive neighborhoods on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas state line.

Kathrens’ presentation is the latest Kivett/Seligson Lecture, sponsored by the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Department of Architecture, Urban Planning + Design and funded by Hanan Kivett and Ted Seligson.