Community Highlights: Meet Emily

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily, an Innkeeper at Oak Street Mansion.

Hello Emily, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hi! My name is Emily Butterfield and I am one of the innkeepers at Oak Street Mansion. I’ve only been working here since February 2021, but Clemons Hospitality has owned the home since 2019. I work on a team with two other innkeepers (and currently hiring more!) who help run this beautiful property, as well as the neighboring Southmoreland on the Plaza. I recently wrote up a short history of the property that I had shared to our social media pages and I’d love to share that with you:
“The neighborhood surrounding the Kansas City Art Institute was once one of the most exclusive suburbs of Kansas City, lined with stately mansions (including the former August R. Meyer estate, which has been the centerpiece of the Kansas City Art Institute campus since 1927) that are, for the most part, no longer private homes. One of the grander homes in the neighborhood, which is bordered by the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, is our red-brick manor home constructed in 1907 for Dr. William Stone Woods, who was the chairman of the National Bank of Commerce at the time that he built his three-story Georgian Revival home at 4343 Oak.

Over the last century, the Selby Kurfiss-designed building has had several owners and been used for a variety of purposes: in the 1920s, it became a dormitory for the Missouri State Nurses Association, and after the Art Institute leased it in 1949, it was used as a dormitory for female students until it was sold to a local lawyer, William Pickett, in 1978. Pickett lived in the home until his death in 2009. Dr. Roland and Marcia Sabates bought the property in 2011 and in 2013 it opened as an 8-bedroom Art Hotel, displaying their personal art collection in the halls.

In 2019 Clemons bought the property and kept the Art Hotel dream alive, by partnering with the Kansas City Art Institute. Our walls are constantly filled with beautiful pieces from local artists. A stay at the Oak Street Mansion is not only a relaxing vacation but an exploration into a beautiful art museum as well!”

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Anyone running a turn of the century building can attest to the amount of upkeep it takes, but it’s a labor of love on our part. We’ve also had a challenge of honoring the vision of previous owners and keeping the history of the mansion alive, while still updating the inn to current standards and adding in modern technology to make our guests’ stay more enjoyable. Of course, there are also the struggles that are out of our control, including having to shut down during COVID and a lightning strike that had us redoing our entire security system a few years ago.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Oak Street Mansion is a part of the hospitality branch of Clemons Real Estate, which also owns the nearby B&B, Southmoreland on the Plaza. Clemons was started in 2003 by a Kansas City local, Aaron Clemons, who later partnered with his sister, Audrey Navarro, in 2015. They began a multi-family real estate investment company specializing in the Midtown Kansas City market, with a goal to breathe new life into buildings that have been neglected or run down in the area. They branched out into hospitality with Oak Street Mansion and Southmoreland on the Plaza in 2019. We love the idea of preserving the beautiful buildings in Kansas City’s midtown and our small team running these two beautiful properties have done a great job keeping the historic inns as a welcoming home for travelers and staycationers alike!

What matters most to you?
What matters most to us is our guests’ experience. Without our guests, we wouldn’t have a business and wouldn’t be able to run these beautiful properties. They are the lifeblood of our business and, honestly, what makes our job so fun! We always seem to get the best guests and appreciate each and every person that decides to book a stay with us.

Pricing:

• Lower Weekday Rates – $145-$175
• Weekend Rates – $160-190
• Whole Property Bookings – pricing upon request

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.oakstreetmansionkc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theoakstreetmansion/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOakStreetMansion/
• Other: https://www.clemonslife.com/