Nelle E. Peters Troost Avenue Historic District

Built in 1923, the Spanish Court Apartments and the Gerre Apartments are now part of the Nelle. E. Peters Troost Avenue Historic District. These six buildings, along with two other buildings that were part of the Gerre Apartments prior to their demolition in the 1980s, were designed by prolific Kansas City architect Nelle E. Peters. The apartments were designed to house middle-income residents in a rapidly-growing part of Kansas City in the 1920s and replaced large estates that had led to this area once being known as “Millionaire's Row.” Peters designed the Spanish Court Apartments as a "garden apartment building complex" in Spanish Revival style. The entrance to each of the five buildings faces inward toward a central courtyard, one of her favored features, with the intent to provide a more hospitable and healthier life for the occupants. The Gerre was designed in Prairie style as a "low-rise walk-up", classified as an effective model of housing in a location with established public transportation and utilities. Peters designed nearly a thousand buildings throughout her career, many of which were apartments that supported the growth of the city.

The Nelle E. Peters Troost Avenue Historic District is situated on the 2700 block of Troost Avenue and consists of six apartment buildings designed by prolific architect Nelle Peters: the Spanish Court Apartments (five buildings) and the Gerre Apartments (one building). The district also honors two other units which accompanied the Gerre building, the Gene and Jack Apartments, that were razed in the 1980s. Built in 1923 in an area once a part of “Millionaire's Row”, these apartments were designed to provide middle-income residents access to affordable housing while being in close proximity to the streetcar and neighboring business districts. 

In the late 1800s, Troost Avenue was the east boundary of the city limits. The land east of Troost between 23rd and 32nd Streets from Paseo to Locust was home to the 365-acre Porter Plantation. This same area from 26th to 32nd Streets along Troost became “Millionaire's Row,” in which the wealthy built large homes away from the urban core. When the economy crashed in the 1890s, the plantation was sold and the wealthy moved west to newly developing neighborhoods leaving this area open for new construction in the 1920s. Four decades later and with explicit restrictions against minorities within the land deeds created by real estate developer J. C. Nichols and others, many families moved either away from or to this area, causing Troost to become a symbol of a divided city.

Nelle E. Peters (born Nellie Elizabeth Nichols) was one of few successful women architects at the time. Born on December 11, 1884 in a sod house in North Dakota, Nelle developed an early talent for drawing and mathematics with inspiration from her grandfather who was a millwright. She pursued her passion for arts when her family moved to Iowa as she enrolled at Buena Vista College around age 15. College was not recognized at the time so Nelle never received a degree. After attending college from 1899 to 1902, she completed a four-year apprenticeship as a drafter with the Sioux City, Iowa firm of Eisentrout, Colby, and Pottenger, as well as studying further through correspondence courses. The firm opened a branch in Kansas City and transferred Nelle in 1907, but by 1909 the firm had little business so she used her little amount of savings to open her own practice. Nelle's career continued as she married Kansas City Terminal Railroad design engineer William H. Peters in 1911, but her success did not reach its height until after their divorce in 1923. 

At this time, the concept of multiple dwellings became established as a fundamental type of housing for the growing city. Peters chose the 2700 block along Troost Avenue for these eight apartment buildings, which served their purpose in meeting the need for housing created by a demographically significant increase in the number of workers. This area was in close proximity to the streetcar, the only school district that accommodated African Americans, as well as the business district that formed at 31st and Troost, becoming a center for minority-owned businesses. 

Peters was known primarily for her designs of apartments and hotels, and designed nearly 1000 buildings in her career. Her early success is often attributed to her association with Charles Phillips of Phillips Building Company which dates back to 1913; however, the Spanish Court and Gerre Apartment buildings were designed for a partnership with Quality Builders in 1923, one the most prolific Kansas City builders of the era. Both sets of apartment buildings have unifying elements of brick construction, terra cotta ornamentation, and Black iron fencing around the units and on the balconies, like many of Peters’ designs. 

The Spanish Court Apartments (2719-2737 Troost Avenue) is a “garden apartment building complex” consisting of five, three-story buildings on the east side of Troost, designed to provide a more hospitable and healthier life for the occupants. The apartments were designed in Spanish Revival style with red tile pent roofs, ornamental terra cotta, stucco, and iron, and the entrances of each building face inward toward a courtyard, a feature favored by Peters. The two buildings on either side of the courtyard twin each other while a larger building centered at the head of the courtyard is nearly twice the size of the other four. Much of the original exterior has maintained its original integrity. The interior of buildings 2723 and 2731 retain their original oak staircases with newel posts and balustrades, as well as intact red oak floors that have been covered with carpet. Ornamental Tuscan columns also remain intact in the living room of some units while additional columns that were found in storage have plans to be restored. 

The Gerre Apartment building (2730 Troost Avenue) is a single building built on the west side of Troost and is categorized as a “low-rise walk-up”. This was an effective model of dwelling developed on urban land that directly affected patterns of population growth in a location already served by public transportation and utilities. The Gerre displays modest characteristics consistent with Prairie Style architecture, designed with a roofed porch and using tapestry brick, stone banding that frames each window, and a projected cornice with a stone parapet wall edged in stone coping. However, the building underwent a few alterations through the 1980s. The interior floor plan changed when the central hallway was removed to make way for more units as well as renovations to outdated building materials. The original exterior remains largely intact with an addition that includes a three-story arched brick wing and a modern style curved wall projecting north containing a stairwell. Additionally, the Gerre was originally part of a three-building complex in which its neighboring buildings, the Gene and Jack Apartments, were built at the same time but demolished in the 80s. 

In addition to two districts named in her honor near the Country Club Plaza, the Nelle E. Peters Historical and Thematic Historical Districts, these six buildings were accepted by the National Register of Historic Places in 2009 for their significance in architecture. The Gerre Apartments have remained multi-family housing while the majority of The Spanish Court Apartments are vacant. However, the 2735 building is currently Amethyst Place, a center for recovering women and families.

Peters’ architectural legacy can be seen throughout the city as many of her designs still stand, although her work was not recognized until after her death (1974). Other famous work from Peters during this time includes the Literary Row Apartments, the Ambassador and Valentine Hotels, and the Luzier Cosmetic Company building. While this historic district is one of three areas identified with Nelle Peters, it is the only one that is officially recognized as a historic district with the National Register of Historic Places under her name.

Nelle E. Peters, Historic Missourians. Accessed December 2nd 2021. https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/nelle-peters.

Missouri MPS Peters, Nelle E., Troost Avenue Historic District, National Archives Catalog. Accessed December 2nd 2021. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63817479.

31st & Troost Commercial District, African American Heritage Trail of Kansas City. Accessed December 2nd 2021. https://aahtkc.org/31standtroost.

O'Higgins, Brianna. How Troost Became a Major Divide in Kansas City, KCUR. March 27th 2014. Accessed December 2nd 2021. https://www.kcur.org/community/2014-03-27/how-troost-became-a-major-divide-in-kansas-city.