Homes Tour Archives

From 1977 to 2024, there have been 35 tours, showcasing a total of 197 houses to the public. Out of those, 46 houses have been featured on multiple tours—27 of them twice, and 10 of them three times. Occasionally, churches, community centers, and apartments have also been part of the tour. The event has changed over time with occasional street fairs, live music, car exhibitions, and candlelight parties. Thousands of neighborhood residents have volunteered their time and energy to make the tours possible and tens of thousands of visitors have come to enjoy Hyde Park.

How did this happen?

There are two slightly different versions on how the Homes Tour / Festival began.

Bette Hetzel, Janssen Place resident, wrote the following for the July 1988 Hyde Parker.

“Someone asked what I thought caused Hyde Park’s turn around. My immediate answer was the Hyde Park Festival.

“Twelve years ago last May, the Hyde Park Festival was born thanks to Sally Ackerly, wife of the principal of Notre Dame de Sion lower school, who lived at 3600 Charlotte. Sally loved Hyde Park and had never seen such a concentration of stately old homes. Her dream was to show them off to other people.

“Her first meeting was held at the school with a handful of parents. Betty Kostelac and myself [Bette Hetzel] were the only parents that lived in Hyde Park, so we were elected to be Tour directors. The other mothers all agreed to fix and serve dinners, sandwiches, cake, and ice cream.

“One tour guide was signed up for each hour to tour a group through the entire house. We expected several hundred people for our first festival, but we had over 3,000. After talking for two days, eight hours straight, in our 1900’s taffeta and velvet long dresses in 90 degree weather, we celebrated with a case of Champaign and a swim in the Boy Scout monument. We finished this fantastic weekend walking the streets of Hyde Park serenading our wonderful neighbors.

“The first Hyde Park Festival was over and more successful then our wildest dreams.”

The 1991 Homes Tour and Festival brochure wrote that in 1976, Mark Shapiro, an executive with Westport Tomorrow, and Rick Ackerley, headmaster of Notre Dame De Sion, met to discuss holding some type of festival. The Ackerley’s had been involved in a neighborhood festival prior to moving to Kansas City and wanted to see Hyde Park do something similar. The Westport Tomorrow group was interested in sponsoring a fundraiser to replace dwindling sources of public monies. The neighborhood was interested in participating to show off improvements made through a city sponsored neighborhood conservation program. Sally Ackerley, HPNA board member, served as Chairperson of the first Festival Committee with Carol Bayer representing Notre Dame and several neighborhood families provided additional support. A grant from the Kansas City Association of Trusts and Foundations provided seed money to finance the first tour.

June 4th & 5th, 1977 were selected as the festival dates and five houses were opened to the public for the first time. Home tour tickets were available for $3.00 in advance, $3.50 at the Festival, $1.00 for senior citizens and free for children under 12. The profits were to be distributed: 40% to Notre Dame, 40% to Westport Tomorrow and 20% to HPNA. Two 1977 tour guides, Betty Kostelac and Bette Hetzel, remember working at the tour homes for the entire day. They wore period costumes to enhance their presentations and ordered a fan installed on the front porch of one of the tour homes to help cool the visitors. Notre Dame held a fair, which featured a variety of refreshments and entertainment, on the school grounds. The event was a success and led to its continuation in 1978 with the same co-sponsors.

In 1979, the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) became the sole sponsor of the event and has been responsible for it since then. Houses in north Hyde Park were added to the tour. Free shuttle service between the tour sites was started. Around 5,800 tickets were sold in 1979 and many more people came for food and entertainment. It was the most profitable Festival out of the first three and was produced by volunteers.

Starting in 1982, the tour was moved to the fall so that homeowners could spend spring and summer preparing their houses. The only time rain affected attendance was in 1985. Tragically, in 1986, the tour chair passed away just two days before the event. Despite this, other volunteers stepped in to ensure the tour could continue. There was no tour in 1999, and starting in 2002, it became a biennial event, occurring every even year. In 2008, the tour changed from a two-day event to a one-day event. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no tour in 2020.

In 2013, the Historic Kansas City Foundation recognized The Hyde Park Homes Tour with a Community Catalyst Preservation Award for the contribution the tour made to the reinvestment and revitalization of a historic neighborhood. Betty and Bette attended the awards presentation and received it on behalf of HPNA.

Proceeds from the tour have been used by the HPNA for promoting and improving the neighborhood.

Footnote: Mark Shapiro first approached the Roanoke Neighborhood for a co-sponsored historic homes tour fundraiser. They declined and Hyde Park was the alternative choice.