Featured Homes
Faded Beauty No More
Resolute homeowners revive a former tawdry and dilapidated period home to its original splendor.
Stephan Zweifler and Carl Markus Jr. are unconventional magicians, transforming their historic northeast Kansas City Queen Anne into a glittering holiday masterpiece.

Dignifying their three-story grand dame required considerably more than sleight of hand, according to Stephan,  as he climbs the stairs onto the limestone porch. “When we saw the house in l997, this place was a disaster,” he remembers. “The front porch was literally falling off; although the brick superstructure was intact, the place had been chopped up into apartments, rendering the whole building a shabby façade of the original.”

Ironically, Stephan and Carl loved it. “We both knew what we were in for,” Stephan admits. “We had rehabbed a previous house, so when we saw this one, we went crazy for the outstanding architecture,” Carl says.

After a painstaking 10-plus-year renovation, basically rebuilding the entire home and accompanying carriage house from the inside out, they can reflect on their achievement, but not for long because there’s still considerable work ahead. Once November rolls headlong into December, the shimmer of the season descends. “In other words, we will start the annual embellishment,” Stephan says. 

“People in the northeast are involved in a renaissance,” Carl says. “We’re not unlike many residents who are showing an interest in bringing this neighborhood back from blight. As a result, there’s now a strong community effort toward revitalization.”

With such grandeur at the homeowners’ fingertips, the house, circa l885, has rewarded their effort, showcasing its new countenance with stylish pride. “It’s almost as if the house knows we are dressing her for the season,” Stephan says.

The magic begins at the imposing front porch trimmed with greens and pinpoint lights all sheltered under oak ceilings and four-color exterior palette, just a hint of what’s to come.
Once you step inside and shake off the cold, the warmth of the home envelops guests in an opulent embrace. Although the homeowners have decided upon a lighter palette for the interior, the authentic 19th-century Victorian architecture, including ornate stained glass windows and intricate carved woodwork, is true to the period.

“Decorative foyers were a prominent feature in these homes, often embellished with a table for calling cards or elaborate mantelpieces like this,” Stephan notes, pointing to the first of five original fireplaces in the 5,200-square-foot home.

Stephan and Carl continue the tradition, highlighting their foyer with a tabletop vignette cloaked under the ornately carved archway laced with greens and gold trim.

Cocktails start in the cool, dark, summer parlor, adjacent to the foyer. Mapped with jewel-toned document wallpaper, which was actually a clue found during renovation behind the woodwork, this room makes living in an authentic Victorian interesting and dramatic.

Two panels of jacquard silk were found in the bottom of a box, dusted off and hung in the west-facing picture windows. Here’s the perfect place for a toast to the evening accompanied by carols on the grand piano.

Strolling past the main staircase, which took an entire year to rebuild, guests gather in the majestic dining room where Christmas glows. 

Adorning the 11-foot ceiling, an 18k gold Marie Therese chandelier that once hung in the Royal Vienna Opera House drips with crystal. Indisputably, it’s a jaw-dropper. Combined with the charm of another of the home’s original carved mantelpieces on one wall, a white-flocked tree anchoring the bay window and carefully faux wood-grained doors at the room entrances, the fixture completes the room’s ornamental appeal.

At the turn of the century, staff discretely served from dining room to the adjacent kitchen. Since the kitchen was a raw open shell when the men bought the home, a total renovation was necessary. “Unlike today, where the kitchen has become the heart of the home, Victorians didn’t put forth effort decorating this room, Stephan muses. “We decided otherwise.”

Now, the room blends the form and function of modernity. “Assisted by handy friends, we decided to install every convenience from a stylish farmhouse sink and dentil mouldings to Italian porcelain floor tile and oak cabinets,” Stephan notes. “During the neighborhood open house we hold each December, the kitchen is the natural gathering place.”

Room to room, there’s an enchanted luster cast from frosted and polished decorations, gleaming holiday lights and twines of bedecked garland. 

Looking past all the glitter and swag, Stephan acknowledges, “We didn’t want to live in a museum; we wanted a home with a livable, friendly feel.”

Nathan Scarritt and George Kessler, visionary forefathers who endowed much of the old northeast’s landscape and architectural beauty, would likely endorse Stephan and Carl’s adventurous spirit and strong-willed determination.

No matter what the season, these two homeowners are leaving their mark as contemporary pioneers heralding the revival in this historic section of Kansas City.