Tiffany Castle is a landmark home in the historic Pendleton Heights neighborhood in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, Jackson County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, United States. It was built in 1909 as the home of

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Flavel Tiffany, who later founded the Tiffany Springs neighborhood of Kansas City. The

Tudor architecture The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture in England and Wales, during the Tudor period (1485–1603) and even beyond, and also the tentative introduction of Renaissance architecture to Britain. It fo ...

castle sits on the bluffs overlooking the East Bottoms and the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

below, and can be seen for miles.

History

Tiffany Castle is named after its builder and first owner, Dr. Flavel B. Tiffany. He was the most prolific of the first

s in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, living on

Troost Avenue Troost Avenue is one of the major streets in Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its northern terminus is at 4th Street and its southern terminus Bannister Road, totaling . It is named after Kansas City's first resident ...

's "Millionaire Row" between 26th and 32nd streets. He had traveled England and Scotland, and loved the

of castles, so he wanted to build one at 100 Garfield Ave in Kansas City. Its floors and roof are made of reinforced concrete, with walls of solid stone from a quarry at 2nd and Lydia. It was completed in 1908, at and for more than . It is on the bluffs at the edge of Historic Northeast Kansas City, overlooking the East Bottoms and the

below, and can be seen for miles. Tiffany's major real estate endeavor was founding the town of Tiffany Springs, which he intended to become a major spa resort to rival the successful

Excelsior Springs, Missouri Excelsior Springs is a city in Clay and Ray counties in the U.S. state of Missouri and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The population was 10,553 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately northeast of central Kansas City, Miss ...

. In the late 1880s, he bought in central Platte County which includes an

Artesian aquifer An artesian well is a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock or sediment known as an aquifer. When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers of Permeability (ea ...

, but his plans were not substantially realized. In 1962, the city of Kansas City, Missouri annexed most of this land, much of which became the

Kansas City International Airport Kansas City International Airport (originally Mid-Continent International Airport) is a public airport in Kansas City, Missouri, located northwest of Downtown Kansas City in Platte County, Missouri., effective May 15, 2025. The airport was ...

. Tiffany Springs is now a neighborhood of Kansas City. The home has been sold eight times since, including in 2015 for , and is part of the neighborhood's tradition of historical Christmas tours.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Missouri

History

See also

References