SCOPE OF WORK: National Register District Boundary Extension;
Federal & Kansas Historic Tax Credit Applications
CLIENT: MPM Heartland House, LLC
INVESTMENT: $1,880,000
COMPLETED: Spring 2011
AWARDS: Kansas Preservation Alliance Award for Excellence (2011)
The H.W. Gates Funeral Home at 1901 Olathe Street, Kansas City, Wyandotte, Kansas was designed in 1922 in the Neoclassical style by Kansas City, Kansas architect Fred S. Wilson for local undertakers Horatio and Mary Gates. The building was listed on the National Register as a locally significant example of the funeral home property type as it was constructed throughout the United States during the early 20th century. The Neoclassical style was popular for buildings of this function for a number of reasons: the monumentality conveyed the importance of the business within the community; the single-family building form evoked an air of domesticity and comfort for grieving families; and the large size accommodated both the business needs of the funeral parlor as well as living quarters for the undertaker’s family.
This was the third home of the H.W. Gates Funeral Home, a family business run by three generations of the Gates family for nearly a century. When the last Gates family member retired the building passed out of the family. A corporate entity purchased the funeral business and transferred the house to the Children’s Oncology Services of Mid-America. They extensively renovated the interior to become a Ronald McDonald House, providing housing for the families of seriously ill children who required long-term hospitalization. After Ronald McDonald House moved, the building briefly housed a spa before it was vacated. MPM Capital purchased the building in 2009 and renovated it as offices for its life science venture capital firm.
H. W. Gates Funeral Home before rehabilitation
H.W. Gates Funeral Home after rehabilitation
Much of the historic fabric on the interior was lost when the building was converted to the Ronald McDonald House in the 1980s. The only historic features that remained were the central staircase and halls, wood fireplace mantles in the northeast rooms on the 1st and 2nd floors, wood trim, and some hardwood floors. Rosin Preservation collaborated with the owner and architect to ensure that all work respected the building’s historic features. The rehabilitation captured the historic ambience and character of the building while providing the owner with modern office suites. MPM Capital’s presence in the house is appropriate, given its history with medically-affiliated occupants.
H.W. Gates Funeral Home interior after rehabilitation