Herbert Duncan, Architect
“This house is a ‘baby’ of mine. I am proud of it and feel that together we have created a house of beauty—as well as of light….”
Those are the only words, on record, of Herbert E. Duncan, about his involvement in the construction of the all-electric house built by Kansas City Power and Light in 1953.
Herbert E. Duncan was selected in 1952 by Kansas City Power & Light to design the all-electric house. As the project architect, Duncan’s responsibilities included preparing all architectural and mechanical drawings, maintaining accounts connected with the construction of the house and supervising the contractors. Duncan was also responsible for obtaining approval of the drawings from the J.C. Nichols Company prior to construction.
Born in 1905 and a life-long resident of the Kansas City are, Duncan graduated from Westport High School and the University of Kansas City (now the University of Missouri-Kansas City) with degrees in philosophy and religion. Interesting, he never earned a degree in architecture, but began his career as an apprentice with Boillet and Lauck in 1927. He opened his own firm, Herbert Duncan and Associates, in 1937 and made small houses his specialty. In addition to the all-electric house, he designed over 300 homes in Leawood, including his own home in 1938 at 8100 High Drive. He also designed five high-rise apartment buildings for the Country Club Plaza and Village Green, the prototype multifamily housing project in Kansas City after World War II. Two of his residential designs in the Country Club District earned design awards from the Kansas City chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
In addition to residential properties, Duncan also designed commercial and educational structures, including the Sealright complex in Kansas City, Kansas, Newcomb Hall at UMKC, the Diastole Building at the University of Health Sciences, and the original Corinth Elementary School in Prairie Village.
He was also an ordained minister, serving the Community Christian Church and the Westminster Congregational Church, both in Kansas City, and the Colonial Church in Prairie Village.
--ALBUM vol. 14, no. 4 (fall 2001)