Frank M Howe Residence
- Address: 1707 Jefferson St
- Vicinity: W 17th St
The Frank M Howe Residence is significant for architectural and historical reasons. Howe, a principal partner in the nationally recognized architectural firm of Van Brunt and Howe, had the house at 1707 Jefferson built in 1887 as his home from designs executed by his office. A fine interpretation of the late nineteenth century Shingle style, the house is one of five residential works designed by the firm still remaining in Kansas City. (Another house designed by Van Brunt and Howe, the C E Moss residence at 1714 Jefferson, is located directly across the street.) The house was constructed shortly after the firm had opened a permanent Kansas City office. As a residence for one of the partners, the house showcased Van Brunt and Howe's capabilities in single family residential work rather than just commercial, hotel, and railroad terminal design. This becomes an early and clearly significant statement by the firm when considering that they were to dominate the Kansas City architectural scene for the next fifteen years. Although the Howe residence is not the only extant architectural work by the firm from this period, it is by virtue of its original client, condition and date a measure of the firm's success and status. The visibility of Van Brunt and Howe was not threatened by their relocation in this area; they were, in fact, the first architectural firm in Kansas City to be nationally recognized. Further, the Howe residence stands today as an anchor for then northeastern end of Jefferson Street, an enclave of large, high styled homes commissioned by prominent citizens in the last 30 years of the nineteenth century. Although at one time, pattern book cottages and fashionable homes lined the streets of Mulkey Square, recent highway construction has leveled the majority of finer homes once located in the central western section of the district. The Howe residence is typical of the imposing residences on this street and of its era. - NRHP, 26 February 1985