Verona Columns

Verona columns and reflecting pool at the intersection of Ensley Lane, Mission Drive and Overhill Road in Mission Hills were a development conceived by S. Herbert Hare, landscape architect and city planner. He traveled to Europe in 1924, carrying with him topographical maps of his valley and hills along with a commission from the J. C. Nichols Co. to search Europe for art pieces that would be fitting for the site. A Country Club District Bulletin of August 1925 told of Hare's progress: The first thing upon which he determined was the forecourt. Then in Rome he found an antique Carrara marble fountain, appropriated for the forecourt. Designed in the image of the most graceful of all water fowl - the swan - the fountain is a lovely thing to look upon. It carries four small swans at its base and three larger swans grouped around the shaft between the fountain's two bowls...the fountain has been appropriately placed in a pool of generous size. To the south of the oblong pool arises a flight of steps of native stone, 60 feet in width, leading to a semi-circular formal terrace. Along the central portion of this terrace, symmetrically flanking each side of the rear of the terrace, rise before us eight lovely Verona marble columns from Venice, each standing 12 feet in height. The shafts of the columns are of a twisted design, the Verona tones giving a warmth and a mellowed texture seldom found in any other type of stone or marble...each column carrying a cap and an ornamental base of white Carrara marble. In the center of this double quartet has been placed a large white marble vase, several hundred years old and also purchased in Italy. Flagstone paths along the terrace and stone steps lead to two figures, emblematic of the seasons of the year. To the south and above the columns there has been an abundant planting of shrubbery and evergreens. Almost a year was required in the development. First a stream was diverted and a large concrete culvert was built to make ready for the project. The bulletin commented that Verona columns compared favorably with many of the things to be found in the famous capitals of Europe which have enjoyed the study and achievement of centuries of effort. Is there a tendency, just because things are here at home and easy to see, to not appreciate them so much as things even less worthwhile, which because of distance are surrounded with a glamour that causes us to cross oceans and mountains and even the sands of the desert to see? The post card was printed in black and white in Alsace by John Straley, a Kansas City postal clerk at the main post office, then at 8th and Grand. Straley, an amateur photographer of local scenes, was a World War I veteran who married a French girl known by many here for her years of teaching French for La Causerie. Straley's published post cards of familiar Kansas City scenes bear his name on the reverse side of the card and printed in France or printed in Alsace.Kansas City Times, January 12, 1980.