When guests enter the house they are escorted back to the mid-20th century. Blair plays Big Band, and classic jazz and blues CDs such as Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald and, of course, Dinah Washington. “My guests know when they come here they better like my music because this is all I ever play,” Blair says, flashing a Gatsby smile. Appropriate furnishings As for décor, none of the original furniture remains at Sodern- Adler. Most of the mid-20th century furnishings hail from Stern’s residency. Blair has added his own personal touches throughout the years including two Thomas Hart Benton lithographs (the Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site is next-door) and a massive, 16-century wooden trunk consuming the space below a window in the foyer. Blair scouts for mid-century pieces down in the West Bottoms and other antique/vintage shops in town. Two of his favorite stops are Urban Mining (3929 Main St.) and Retro Inferno (1500 Grand Blvd.). He’s repurposed the smallest bedroom into a cozy den. He primar- ily used the room for reading but its northerly view provides scant light, so he relocated to the comfy sofa. An avid reader, he’s cur- rently reading a biography on Wright. The kitchen (updated in the 1960s) boasts not one window over the sink but multiple ones. With a dishwasher, it’s doubtful Blair scrubs pots and pans in the sink to enjoy the view. A good view can be had in any room in the house. He shares this haven with a gray feral cat named Stanley who slinks by on the patio to the wading pool.
banker and philanthropist Richard Stern, invited him to a party there. Blair, then in his 20s, was a bond trader with Stern Brothers. “I’d read about Frank Lloyd Wright in school. I knew he was a fa- mous architect,” Blair says. “I became more interested in his designs once I visited this house.” Little did Blair know he would one day own the house. Stern often traveled for his work and would be away from home for seven to eight months out of the year. A friend of Stern’s lived in the house and cared for it. However, as the friend grew older and became ill, Blair would care for the house in his stead. When the friend died in 1997, Blair moved in. At some point, Stern donated the house to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, but continued to live in it until his death in 2001. Blair purchased the house from the museum. “I love living here. It’s well-suited for me because it was built as an entertaining house,” Blair says, pointing to the well-stocked, built-in bar behind him. The kitchen countertop holds numerous bottles of wine. And Blair entertains … a lot. He hosted four parties in the month of August alone. His events include intimate gatherings as well as fundraisers for up to 200 guests. One year, he organized a Kentucky Derby party. “Sometimes, before going out to dinner, friends will meet me at the house for cocktails,” Blair says. (Manhattans in winter; martinis in summer, he adds.)
One of the original bedrooms in the house was turned into a reading room complete with leather chairs and lots of artwork.
27 vintagekc fall 2016
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs