The Henderson mansion was a showplace on the Paseo in its glory years.
A question lingers over the diminished but still regal mansion at 1016 Paseo. Those who are intimately familiar with this house — with the wrought-iron fence around it, the crumbling cut-stone terraces, the Ionic columns that hold up a lonely front porch — agree that many questions haunt this house. But a particular unknown has resonated for 33 years: Did Johnny T. Howard know the man who killed him on August 21, 1978?
Howard, a youthful-looking 51-year-old, held a little party — seven friends sharing drinks and listening to music — in his part of 1016 Paseo on that hot summer night. There had been bigger, wilder parties in the house over the years, but this was a modest gathering, and it had started before sundown. It was only a few minutes past 8:30 p.m. when the guests in Howard's two-room flat heard the sound of glass breaking.
Howard looked out his front window but saw nothing. Excusing himself, he stepped out of his apartment and walked through the front hall, past the grand mahogany staircase that led to the upper floors, and into the tiled foyer. Before him were glass-paned double doors leading to a partially recessed porch at the front of the house.
The glass on one of the doors had been shattered, and an assailant — later described by a witness as a young man with blond hair — shot Howard in the face, point-blank. His guests heard the noise and ran from Howard's apartment to chase the killer — Howard was already dead — who dashed south on the Paseo.
The shooter was "last seen running west on 11th Street," according to The Kansas City Star, which reported that the police had no clues. "Right now," Sgt. Charles Finlay told the paper, "all we have is a dead body."
Howard's wasn't the only death at 1016 Paseo that night. His killing also triggered the end of the mansion's life. Its remaining few tenants wasted little time moving out, and in the three decades since then, the striking property has been passed from one set of owners to another. Each buyer has arrived with big ambitions. None have had enough cash. With each transaction, 1016 Paseo has become a larger project, a place less likely to ever again be a home.
Until someone shot him to death, Howard had a pretty good deal at 1016 Paseo.
As the resident manager for what the house had become — the five-apartment Chinn Hotel — Howard had a living space that included the two biggest rooms on the first floor: the original front parlor (called "the piano room" in the 1900s) and a smaller parlor, set off with handsome pocket doors. The rooms echoed under 12-foot ceilings, and he had his pick of two beautiful fireplaces.
Owner Isadore Chinn lived in Higginsville, Missouri, and let Howard pick his own tenants and rent out the rooms. Chinn wasn't interested in further dividing the three-story house into kitchen-equipped apartments, so it remained a boardinghouse meant for those who weren't putting down roots.
The house was one of the first private homes built along the northern stretch of what was once Kansas City's most glamorous parkway. The Paseo, long beloved for its landscaped gardens and splashing fountains, had reached a low point by the 1970s, with its northern stretch distinctly shabby. Several buildings stood vacant, and the once chic New York Apartments, at 12th Street, had been razed.
"In the 1970s ... the Paseo was realigned and much of the garden space was eliminated," historians Jane Flynn and Dory DeAngelo write in the 1990 book Kansas City Style. "Urban renewal has taken most of the grand old buildings that lined the boulevard ... only one house (built in 1899) remains at 1016 Paseo."
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Here's something interesting: the guy who promised to paint Poole's portrait in exchange for living in the garage, Christopher Vest, is now trying to sell the painting on Phoenix Craigslist. For $16,000, no less. Just search for "Generous Henderson Mansion" (with the quotes) and you'll find the listing.
Just drove by there this morning and the fenced in machinery storage area right off the back of the house is a big turn off.
Great article, Charles. I really enjoyed it. This house is so unique in every facet. It will definitely require a unique person to buy it and live there. $445K to own and with the close proximity to City Union Mission, the majority of your neighbors would be homeless. Talk about haves and have nots.
Great slice of history Charles. And here I thought you were just a one trick pony food critic, albeit a good one.
What do you mean, figurative ghosts? Former hookers -- and former humans -- Taffy Sue and Peggy Jo are waiting for you up on the third floor, baby.
Disappointed there are only figurative ghosts. Based on the title I was hoping it was a haunted house. Now that would interest me. An old brothel in the hood – not so much.
I used to live in this area at 1704 Prospect and was born in KC. One time, as I was walked to Yeager School, Al Capone slid around the corner where I was standing and my Dad told me who he was.I never walked to school alone.I walked up the Paseo many times with my parents and the street used to be lined with apartment houses.Prospect has been torn out and new things built.Last time I was in KC they were tearing down Yeager School too.
I might add I moved from KC in 1935 and don't ever want to live in the big City again.
Again with the sweeping generalizations. Where in the city -- Hyde Park, the historic Northeast -- is there a mansion, beat-up or otherwise, for $10K. Provide proof, please.
Um, all of those "details" are in the article. There's a servant's room with bath -- not "quarters" and as far as I know, there were no actual structural additions to the original layout of the house.
Could have provided more detail about this house. It is actually a 3 story home with carriage house and servant quarters. It was built Dr. Generous Henderson and is known as Henderson House. It has had a couple restoration and additions. Still a neat house, but like mentioned who the fuck wants to live at 10th and Paseo?
It doesn't matter how nice the house is, $445,000 in that neighborhood is over priced.
gee a whore house and a murderers paradise oh boy,i cant put my cash away fast enough,where is heff when ya' need him?
The Northeast part of KC has some really diverse architecture. There are still some stately homes left that havent been sliced up into apartment houses. And this particular home at 1016 Paseo has always intrigued me. I hope someone comes along with enough $$ to give this home the care it deserves. Great article.
It's sweet. And the price is right. I love it that it's pink and white, like one of those marshmallow cookies.
thanks chuck; my memory lags sometimes;alzheimers is hell. as i recall, the cops let the gentleman go to a bedroom or bathroom unattended for something ; came back with a shotgun. p.s. i used to know the owner of the new york, he also built fiberglass boats of some kind &. lived in the 32 or 3300 block of st.john. shame about the old house though;they built it when i was a kid:) thats a joke.
the third cop killed the shooter i think, but i wouldnt stake my flawless reputation on it.well, perhaps not absolutely flawless.:) great article however. ; i still love northeast.
I remember my step father and I driving down Troost, and The Paseo in 1976 ( i was 15 yrs old), and him telling me how all the millionaires lived on these streets up until the 1940s. I thought he was pulling my leg, because all I saw were dilapidated houses rented out by hood rats.
it's a gorgeous house, and I wish I had the money to buy it...
then MOVE it...
and rehab the entire house...
unfortunately.....
Imagine if all these grand buildings along Troost, Linwood, Independence and the Paseo were never torn down, KC would really look like the Paris on the Plains
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