Kansas City’s historic Loose Mansion lists for $4.3 million

Primary Tiffany chandelier. 3 antique safes. Eight fireplaces. Marble flooring. A dozen balconies.

The historic Free Mansion — at present an celebration venue — has strike the current market for $4.3 million.

Owners Ken and Barbara Saathoff have partially retired and want to completely retire in the upcoming yr or so.

“We have an excellent personnel and this is the time for us to just slip out the doorway and allow a new owner, or group of homeowners, take it to the subsequent degree,” Barbara Saathoff claimed. “This was a landmark that was just getting ignored, and it has been a seriously good point to convey it back again exactly where men and women can really take pleasure in it. I have liked it. This has been these types of a enjoyable, pleasurable organization.”

Block & Enterprise Inc. Realtors has the listing.

The Unfastened spouse and children is perhaps most effective recognized for Unfastened Park, on 75 acres just south of the State Club Plaza. But their mansion, at 101 E. Armour Blvd., also is amazing.

In accordance to The Star’s archives and the Saathoffs, Jacob and Ella Unfastened broke floor for the mansion in 1907, and it was done in 1909.

He designed his fortune with Unfastened-Wiles Biscuit Co. (also recognised as Sunshine Biscuits). But the first money for the mansion came from a copper financial investment manufactured by Jacob, his brother Joseph, and a good friend. Their $10,000 expense had a payoff of $1 million each individual.

Jacob explained to his spouse she could use the windfall nonetheless she appreciated. She used $250,000 to assemble a mansion that would be a showplace for significant parties.

Their Washington, D.C.-dependent architect — identified for creating embassies — set in cement flooring, large ceilings, vast doorways and a number of entryways. Pocket doors could be shut for more intimate options.

It had a grand salon and audio space on the major amount, cigar and billiards place on the lower level, and a third level ballroom for dinners and dancing.

The 4-story mansion, stated on the Nationwide Historic Registry, has the initial Italian tile flooring and marble foyer with brass railings, alongside with the Unfastened family members risk-free, Ella’s jewelry safe and a superior-protection lender safe. Eight of the authentic 11 fireplaces continue being, along with four of the 12 bathrooms. It also has 12 balconies.

Jacob’s affectionate nickname for Ella was Sunshine, and S’s are hand-carved in the mahogany grand staircase.

The most important making is 16,204 sq. ft, and the carriage home is 2,200 square ft (at this time a bed and breakfast sleeping up to 10 folks). The sale also features celebration bookings — some two years out — and it has a whole liquor license.

Soon after obtaining the residence, the Saathoffs put in three decades and about $3 million restoring and converting the mansion into an function room. It gradually opened from 2004 to 2007. Occasions have involved rehearsal dinners, weddings (practically 2,000), and civic and corporate gatherings.

“Our emphasis has mainly been on weddings and we are pretty, very good at it,” she reported.

They have ongoing to preserve the facility and took time through COVID to do this sort of initiatives as resurfacing the parking whole lot and refinishing wood floors.

Bookings are acquiring back to pre-pandemic levels, and they had their ideal Oct in four decades.

Free Mansion has four full-time employees, and about 20 regular contractors who work the activities, likely the “best employees we’ve at any time had.”

“They know it is a retirement situation and that we’ve gained the appropriate to retire. We weren’t sure what they would say but they are excited,” claimed Ken Saathoff.

This tale was initially printed November 1, 2022 2:57 PM.