In 1991, Four Gates Farm (aka Oak Hill Farm) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This is a 40-acre estate located at 13001 Little Blue Road in Kansas City, Missouri. There is a historic home and a national historic district on this property.
Sometimes when a property is nominated to be listed on the NRHP, there may be more than one building or structure included. If that's the case, those are considered contributing buildings. If not, but still on the property, they are defined as non-contributing. In this case, the district has two contributing buildings and four contributing structures.
The architect for the main house was Mary Rockwell Hook in 1925. The house contains three stories and is made of brick and rubble masonry. There are also a small farmhouse, a free-standing conical roofed stone tower, and three stone outbuildings.
Within the boundaries of the estate, the main house, a caretaker's house, entrance gate and fence, bridge, water tower, and a cistern/retaining wall contribute to the historical significance of the property (2 contributing buildings, 4 contributing structures). (Source.)
The house is located at the highest point on the property. The Four Gates residence was the last home in Kansas City designed by Hook. This home was designed for an old friend of Hook's named Marvin Gates who was also wealthy. The Gates family commissioned Hook and Eric Douglas MacWilliam Remington, with whom she maintained an architectural partnership, to build the home in 1925.
The construction was completed by 1927. Because Mrs. Gates was involved with amateur theatrical productions, a third of the living room was elevated so it could be used as a stage. She was the Director of the Junior League Children's Theater.
Even though the farm property was incorporated into the city limits of Kansas City in 1961, because it includes 40 acres, it still looks rural.
The house overlooks a valley near the Little Blue River that's near the site of the Civil War Battle of the Little Blue.
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