A weathered house at 900 Main Street in Parkville, Missouri, is getting a careful second act. New owner Clint Jayne is restoring the property to look as it did when it was first built, while keeping its longtime purpose as apartments intact, and he's inviting the public to see the progress for themselves this weekend.
The home has cycled through a number of identities over the decades, according to FOX4, which reports it started out as Park College's first president's house before later becoming a women's dormitory and housing for the college's staff. By the 1970s, the station notes, the building had transitioned into private apartments, a use that has carried through to today.
There's some uncertainty about exactly when the house was built. FOX4 reports Jayne is renovating the property to match its 1906 appearance, while a separate account from theclio.com states the Park University Park House was built in 1917 by architect Carl A. Listrom and Mrs. Pauline Hawley. The two sources don't agree on the date, and neither account resolves the discrepancy.
Restoring the Porches and the Past
Jayne's renovation reportedly began with a literal unveiling: tearing down hallways that had been built to cover the home's upper and lower porches, according to the same FOX4 report. The goal, per the station, is to keep the building's function as apartments while bringing its exterior and architectural details back closer to their historic form.
Six renovated apartments inside the house are expected to be available to rent starting in November, the station's report notes. Before then, Jayne is opening the doors to curious neighbors and history buffs alike, hosting an open house this Sunday, Oct. 25, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
A Name With No Clear Origin
Even Park University's own archivist can't pin down why the house carries one of its old nicknames. Dr. Tim Westscott told FOX4 there are no clear records explaining why the property is called the Sunset House. That mystery has some resonance with the Clio account, which states the Park House was built to bring the university president closer to campus and to replace a former president's residence that was also known as Sunset — though it's not clear from available records how directly the two Sunset references connect.
Part of a Broader Pattern on Campus Properties
Parkville's restoration effort echoes similar projects at historic university residences elsewhere in Missouri and Kansas. Across town in Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Kansas City has been searching for a partner to restore the century-old Epperson House, a four-story, 54-room mansion at 5200 Cherry St., according to KCUR. Other university presidential homes in the region have undergone their own updates over time: the University of Missouri's president's residence on the Francis Quadrangle in Columbia was completed in 1867, per the Office of the President, University of Missouri, while Kansas State University's president's residence saw renovations in 1998 and 2016, according to Kansas State University.
For now, the Parkville project remains focused on its own walls and porches rather than any campus-wide preservation push. Residents interested in seeing the work in progress, or in learning more about the building's layered past as a president's house, dormitory, staff housing and now private apartments, can stop by Sunday afternoon before the six units open for move-in next month.
