Mission Hills Meets Malibu in a Kansas Home with a California Vibe

In the living room, the Robsjohn Gibbings vintage cocktail table is encircled by cozy seating, including a pair of ’50s armchairs reupholstered in shearling and suede and a ’60s curved sofa, originally owned by Beth Zollar’s great aunt. All photos by Aaron Leimkuhler

While many people could recite all the projects they started and finished during the pandemic, few could say that they gutted, designed, and furnished a house in Mission Hills.

While 1,623 miles away. When ordering anything from overseas was dicey as cargo ships were stuck in port. When shortages from toilet paper to computer chips caused us all to go from Plan A to Plan G within seconds (Goodbye La Cornue range; hello, Bertazzoni).

But Beth Zollars found a way. A professor of policy and urban planning at the University of Southern California and a local entrepreneur and designer, she was teaching her winter college classes. Husband Bill, retired CEO of YRC Worldwide, had his new work cut out for him after being appointed to the United States Postal Service Board of Governors.

“We downsized from our house in Leawood as empty nesters of four grown children,” Beth Zollars says. “We wanted an easier way to live in Kansas, but with a California vibe.”

An iron and brass railing leads up the stairs in the foyer. The reproduction Cassina console table is fronted by a contemporary pouf by Belgian designer Michael Verheyden.

While riding out the pandemic on the West Coast, she began planning. A mood board detailed how she wanted the exterior (white painted brick, black window frames and doors) and interior (quiet neutral) to look and feel.

Contractor Jarret Apperson of McApperson Properties made her vision become a reality, with other local help from Hardwood Floor Company, Carthage Stoneworks, Metro Drapery and Blind, and her friend Ann Egan.

Top: The RH sectional divides the family room from the kitchen and faces the custom white-oak built-in bookcase. An oversize brass pendant from Gallery L7 hovers over the black-stained coffee table topped with a flower arrangement from The Little Flower Shop. Bottom left: In the family room, a pair of rush woven chairs flank the 19th-century painted cupboard, where a Workstead wall lamp with adjustable shade illuminates the art. Bottom right: Beth Zollars with the family’s dog, Shelly, a bird-dog mix.

Now, as you walk in the front door, you would never know this is the way the house came together. Quarter-sawn white oak floors feel almost soft underfoot. Vintage Turkish Oushak rugs, pale walls, and lined Belgian linen draperies all whisper “quiet neutral.” Modern Italian lighting and articulating brass sconces cast light on antiques and family pieces, mixing new with old.

“I wanted everything to be comfortable,” says Zollars. That means everything from the fleecy armchair that pulls up next to the living room fireplace with its soapstone surround, where she loves to have her morning coffee, to the vintage curved sofa from a great aunt, which is now reupholstered in a comfy flannel gray. Or the spot—any spot—where the family’s dog, Shelly, a bird-dog mix, wishes to curl up.

Honed marble countertops, Farrow & Ball French Grey-painted cabinetry, and unlacquered brass fixtures and cabinet pulls all work to warm up the cozy kitchen. A pair of handcrafted brass and rattan pendants illuminates the island.

The couple removed a wall and opened the space to the dining room to provide a view of the outdoors and let in more light. Again, sleek walnut dining chairs feel great to the touch and invite their dinner guests to linger around the table.

The family room also looks out to the outdoors with sleek cabinetry on one end by Parks Cabinetry and a dynamic chandelier overhead. Plenty of space to sit, put your feet up on the black-stained circular coffee table, and just hang out.

Top: A wall of newly installed French doors brighten the dining room, where Naru chairs upholstered in leather surround the contemporary walnut dining table. Six-shade chandelier is from Piattelli Design. Flower arrangements by The Little Flower Shop. Bottom left: Tucked into one corner, a contemporary sconce overlooks an English antique cane and black-lacquer corner chair that Zollars inherited from her great grandmother. Bottom right: A Tessa lamp from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams tops the 19th-century American mahogany drop-leaf table.

The couple loves to entertain. “In our old house,” says Zollars, “people were always gathered around the island, so we wanted to have more places to stand and sit.” Now, the family room melds into the kitchen with cabinets painted a subdued gray, graphic Calacatta Macchia Vecchia stone countertops (with an etch-proofing finish), and a creamy-hued Bertazzoni range. Open shelving and warm wood accents continue the open and friendly feel. Waterworks sink faucets and unlacquered brass hardware invite the patina acquired over time.

Top: Altitude II by Todd Mossman hangs over the walnut canopy bed from Room & Board in the primary bedroom. Bedside lamps from Victoria Morris and marble-topped black-stained oak night tables flank the bed. Flowers are from the Little Flower Shop. Bottom: The spacious primary bedroom includes a sitting area with a 19th-century English mahogany sofa upholstered in a Schumacher velvet and a pair of McGuire linen-upholstered chairs surrounding two Blu Dot aciaca wood tables.

In the “snug” or bar, with its vintage opaline-glass chandelier, Bill can mix up a pitcher of old fashioneds or pour a vintage wine in his favorite room. “On Christmas Eve, we had 15 people squeezed into this little space,” Zollars says with a laugh. “It was like a clown car.”

Here and there, objects tell stories of their family. A 19th-century brass weathervane reminds her of upstate New York, where she grew up. A framed pencil drawing was a gift from her father at her college graduation. Art found, admired, and brought home from travels and favorite places finds their spots to be seen and remembered.

Top: A vintage stool holds accoutrements for the commodious freestanding bathtub in the primary bathroom. Bottom left: The snug is illuminated by a ’50s midcentury-modern Italian Stilnovo brass and opaline-glass chandelier. Bottom right: Tucked into a corner of the foyer, the original powder room was redone with Visual Comfort sconces, a Serena & Lily grasscloth wallcovering, and a custom-made marble sink fitted with Waterworks unlacquered brass fixtures.

Upstairs in the primary bedroom, a large walnut canopy bed is dressed in crisp linens and a comfy blanket tucked in for a tailored appearance. On one wall, the sculpted lines of an antique American highboy from Sotheby’s contrast with the simple forms of bed and side tables with Victoria Morris lamps.

Still working out how and where they want to live, the couple is contemplating another move. Will it mean a Kansas or a California pied-a-terre?

“Like the sea,” says Zollars, “change is inevitable, sometimes just touching at the surface, other times knocking you over with a sledgehammer.”

“But when you surround yourself with the things you love, you always feel at home,” she says.


The It List

Contractor
McApperson Property and Design
913-669-7299

Floors
The
Hardwood Floor Company

Flowers
The Little Flower Shop