The palatial home of R. A. Long, multi-millionaire lumberman, religious leader and philanthropist, was one of Kansas City's finest at the time it was built in 1908 on Gladstone boulevard at Scarritt point. The 72 rooms were lavishly furnished with huge pieces of imported period furniture. Tapestries, wall hangings, statuary, vases, lamps and clocks (which Mr. Long ruled must strike in unison) were brought from France and Austria. Rugs were the finest of Orientals and oil paintings of ancient kings and queens, knights and ladies graced the walls.A pipe organ on the grand marble stairway was played at the dinner hour each evening by Long's valet. There was no cocktail hour because alcoholic drinks were never served. There were mahogany beams inlaid with gold in the living room, a dining room chandelier with 1,000 prisms and stained glass windows. Among other rooms were sun parlors, a conservatory, a room for the masseur, a barber shop, and billiard and bowling rooms in the basement. There was a wall safe in each bedroom and a vault for silver. Servants' quarters were on the third floor and the large stone stables in the rear housed family's horses and carriages until a farm, later named Longview, was purchased in 1915. Long was a Kentucky farm boy who made his millions with a carload of damaged lumber as a stake. He was connected with nearly every public enterprise for the city's advancement from the time he came to Kansas City in 1892. He had no passion to amass wealth, but he took great pride in his fine home. He believed there were too many things to do with money, such as building churches and hospitals and making gifts and endowments. The Long mansion was given to Kansas City for a museum in 1939. The first year it was open 90,000 people visited it, many merely wanting to see the spacious high-ceilinged rooms. Kansas City Star, December 14, 1968.
Reproduction (printing, downloading, or copying) of images from Kansas City Public Library requires permission and payment for the following uses, whether digital or print: publication; reproduction of multiple copies; personal, non-educational purposes; and advertising or commercial purposes. Please order prints or digital files and pay use fees through this website. All images must be properly credited to: "Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri." Images and texts may be reproduced without prior permission only for purposes of temporary, private study, scholarship, or research. Those using these images and texts assume all responsibility for questions of copyright and privacy that may arise.