The Corrigan-Sutherland House, 1200 W. 55th Street.
One of the most interesting of the Ward Parkway houses was also one of the earliest constructed. Bernard Corrigan was part of the family which had enriched itself through one-time ownership of much of the city’s street railway system. His new house at what was then Ward Parkway and Santa Fe Road, was intended to be the crowning achievement of an acquisitive career.

Kansas City architect Louis Curtiss achieved one of his most successful designs with elements of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Prairie School” style of residential architecture. It also contains some of the most remarkable stained glass in the Kansas City region. Individually crafted glass leaves of trees provide a focal point to the large main floor windows on two sides of the house.

Ironically, Corrigan died before the house was completed. His widow sold the property to a wealthy oilman from outside Kansas City. After this brief interlude, the house was purchased by the Sutherland family of lumber interests and remained under their ownership for several decades. It is now owned by another family.

© WHMC-KC, University of Missouri