Barbara and I Tour the Nelly Don Estate Which Will be A Bed and Breakfast

On Sunday Feb. 8th Barbara and I toured the Nelly Don Estate before the Women's Smphony decorates it for this year's show home. The Estate is privately owned and will be a Bed and Breakfast after the Symphony event. Why are we so interested in Nelly Don? Well, we had a Nelly Don factory in Nevada in the 50's and 60's. I remember picking up one of my friend's mother there one day after work. A "quick" flashback! I think it may have been our neighbor Eileen Pulliam, not sure. It was on 71 Highway on the North end of Nevada, the building is still there. Mom had several Nelly Don House Dresses.

JWSA (Junior Women's Symphony Alliance) is now KCSA.
We're particularly thrilled about the upcoming40th Anniversary Showhouse!
We'll continue to update this site with newinformation about this once-in-a-lifetimeShowhouse, so visit often!

PUBLIC PREVIEWTour design areas before thedesigners work their magic.February 7, 2009: Open 10am - 5pm February 8, 2009: Open Noon - 5pmAdmission: $5 at the door
SHOWHOUSE 40 OPENApril 25 - May 17, 2009Contact: Judy Barackman
KENTUCKY DERBY PARTYMay 2, 2009Contact: Marti Miller
HOST A PRIVATE PARTYApril 19-May 16, 2009Contact: Susie Shatz
Symphony Designers'Showhouse 40!
KCSA's 40th Anniversary Showhouse: The Nelly Don Estate.

Public Open House PreviewSaturday, Feb. 7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 8 from noon to 5 p.m Join us for a public preview of the 40th-annual Kansas City Symphony Designers' Showhouse before the design work has begun. Then, return April 25 through May 17 to see what the designers have created. The house is located at the former Nelly Don estate at 5236 Cherry, Kansas City, Mo. This property has never been available for tour. This is a rare property for the showhouse project, rich in history and elegant in style. The main house has three stories and a full, finished basement. There is a manor house and a small cottage. The preview is $5 per person and is payable at the door. Only the main house (four stories) will be open for the preview. The carriage house and cottage will be open for the spring show.
Nell Donnelly lived at this home with her second husband, James A. Reed, while she designed and produced dresses in her Nelly Don collection for "modern" housewives and career women.

Nell's story is important for many reasons: she is one of the first and most successful self-made women millionaires in American business; she designed and sold more dresses in the 20th century than any other single person in the United States and she challenged the notion that women were best suited for domesticity. Nell was greatly loved by her employees and she was the largest manufacturer of women's military and work clothing during World War II. In 1947, she built the largest dress manufacturing plant in the world.

The Kansas City Symphony Alliance, previously called the Junior Women's Symphony Alliance, coordinates the showhouse each year as a fundraiser for the Kansas City Symphony.