LEFT: “Emeline’s Room,” named for one of the original inhabitants of the house, features a Queen-sized bed, antique furnishings, and an adjoining bath. RIGHT: Whether a guest is using a private or shared bathroom, small, personal touches abound that will make the guest feel right at home.
“They come from 15 miles away in order to get away from their chil- dren,” he laughs. “And we have one repeat customer, who is with an in- vestment firm, from Quebec, Canada. Kansas City is on the firm’s radar because of the streetcar. They come to Kansas City to renovate houses and sell them – in Kansas City and in this neighborhood, in particular.” Zweifler says he hopes the streetcar hastens the neighborhood’s renaissance as well. “We hope phase two of the streetcar will come down Independence Avenue, which would skyrocket this back into the respectable neigh- borhood it was,” (the inn’s website notes that the neighborhood’s status as ‘the place to be’ began to decline rapidly with the building of Ward Parkway in the early 20th century). “We’d get a whole new clientele. “That’s what we’re all about. We want people to move to the neighbor- hood and know what the Victorians knew. You have neighbors, not just people who live next door. You have big front porches where people sit in the summertime, where people play music and talk together.”
“I WANT TO MOVE IN!” It is this distinctly Victorian influence that Zweifler says he hopes his guests particularly enjoy. “History isn’t any good unless people of the next generation ap- preciate it,” he says. “Oddly enough, the preservation (of an old house) was against the philosophy of the Victorian period. During the time Queen Victoria reigned over England, things changed. More things were invented, more lives were altered than at any other point in his- tory. The Victorians loved new and modern. To take someone’s house and freeze it in a year is against what they believed.” True as that might be, the inn has been suspended in time, and it’s exactly what brings guests back time and again. “(Guests) walk in the front door, and they’re blown away by the stenciling, and the fireplace, and the archway,” Zweifler says. “They say, ‘Oh, this is so beautiful! I want to move in!’ My response is always, ‘Well, we can work out a rental agreement,’” he jokes. ENJOYING A SIMPLER TIME The guests who check into the bed and breakfast come from as close as across the state line to across the pond, Zweifler notes. At least one of them, like Zweifler and Markus, sees the great potential of Glad- stone Boulevard to continue its growth.
NEIGHBORHOOD EMBRACES FUN, SAFE HOLIDAY FOR ALL
The neighborhood has already taken strides to promote the friendly and hospitable nature of those who live there. One community outreach project that has gained recent popularity is the neighborhood’s “Safe Hal-
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