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I’m sure a lot of you have been wondering what the plans are for the Ray Brady house, at the corner of Country Club Drive and Fairway. For a while now they have been demolishing bits and pieces of it, but leaving the bulk. On this morning’s walk, I stopped to chat with the guys who were pulling out old materials from the interior. There is a rumor that it is being demolished, but that is only partly true.
It seems that the original house had several problems that would have made it hard to bring up to date, particularly things like no insulation. The lot is a very tight corner lot, so they can’t go much bigger than the existing house, though (as previously noted) the new owners got permission to expand a bit to the north.
What I was told today is that, indeed, they will be taking down the above-ground part, stopping at the existing main subfloor. The new house will then take shape on the existing foundation and basement, with some extensions. They have been going slowly until now because there were things in the basement that they wanted to protect from the weather. Apparently they have that resolved now, and I’m told they will have the main part down by year’s end and should have the new house framed up by the end of January. It will share some characteristics with the existing house, besides the foundation, like lots of windows facing the golf course.
We’ll post more if and when we get more information.
This week’s Board of Adjustment meeting gave Steve Rother and his wife Kimi Chinn Rother permission to remodel their new home. This is the Ray Brady house on the corner of Fairway and Country Club Drive. They needed permission because they want to go close to the property line on the north side, but they’ve been talking with Bill Cupp, their neighbor on that side, and things seem to be fine. They’ve already started work!
We also have a new neighbor on Country Lane in Chubb Phillips old house. His name is George Hummel, but I don’t know anything more about him.
Please welcome them, and any other new neighbors you happen to meet!
As we have discussed, we will be having a neighborhood-wide garage sale next Saturday, October 10. It is being coordinated by our Secretary, Sarah Catlin-Dupuy, so if you have any further questions, please contact her. Here are the basic details:
Hours of the sale will be 8:00 to 4:00 3:00 on Saturday only. There will be a large sign at the main entrance to the neighborhood a few days ahead of time to get people interested. We plan to have smaller additional signs directing people to continue throughout the neighborhood to make sure they get to all the locations. There will also be ads in both the Tribune and the Missourian.
Every household is welcome to join in. You will need to set up your own things and try to have them out and ready by the 8:00 start time. The really serious yard-sale customers tend to come early. We’re hoping for good weather, but you might think about what you’ll do if it is raining.
Hope everyone who takes part has a good sale!
For those of you who missed it, the morning open house and garden party at the home of Randy Kilgore and Gary Smith was lovely. We had perfect weather for it, the scones baked by Gary were delightful, and the back yard garden is an amazing oasis!
We are hoping to have another summer open house next month, and are looking for someone to host. If you are interested, please contact Jim Downey or Martha John.
Many in our neighborhood knew Ann Henley, who lived in the house next door to Gary Smith and Randy Kilgore until 2006. I heard today that she has passed away in Arizona, where she moved to be closer to her children. The obituary was in Tuesday’s Tribune, but I missed it. I hope you will be able to go to the funeral on Friday, at Memorial Park Cemetery (see the obituary for details). She was a lovely lady and will be missed.
So, this coming Saturday, May 30, will be a big party day in the neighborhood. Looks like we may have good weather for it! First comes the neighborhood coffee/open house at the home of Randy Kilgore and Gary Smith, 804 Fairway, 9:00 to 11:00 am. Hope to see everyone there!
Then, in the afternoon, Mary Still is having a progressive “Garden Party Fundraiser” at three sites within the neighborhood, from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. You can get your own invitation here but here are the basics: You can tour two beautiful gardens – one at Randy and Gary’s house (if you didn’t already see it that morning), and the other at Dorian and David Pickering’s home, 2 Club Court. Then you can also stop by for a “summer celebration” at Russ and Mary Still’s home, 2000 South Country Club Drive. Mary says, “contributions at all levels are appreciated.”
So, plan to visit with all your neighbors on Saturday at several locations in the neighborhood. See you then!
Mark your calendars now for the next Neighborhood Open House. Gary Smith and Randy Kilgore will be welcoming neighbors to their home at 804 Fairway from 9 to 11 am on Saturday, May 30th. (That’s the weekend after Memorial Day.) Gary says he’ll be serving coffee, juice and fresh scones (cherry-pecan and blueberry – yum!) on the patio. Be sure to take this opportunity to visit with your neighbors and see one of the showplaces in our community.
This is the first in an occasional series about the history of our neighborhood. I was encouraged to write and post these by Jim (and several other people), so here is a start.
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In about 1880, Dr. A.W. McAlester bought approximately 160 acres of land on the east side of Columbia. This land makes up a large part of what is now the Country Club Estates neighborhood.
Andrew Walker McAlester was born in Rocheport on January 1, 1841. He was the youngest of five children of Brightberry McAlester, who was a lumber merchant and builder, and his wife, Mary Ann. They moved their family to Columbia in about 1846, where Brightberry was principal in a large contracting firm that built the county courthouse, a county jail, and several buildings on the new University of Missouri campus, including the (then) President’s home. The free-standing columns at the courthouse are all that remains of the courthouse he helped build, and the President’s home is now the Chancellor’s Residence on the Red Campus.
Young Andrew – or A.W., as he became known – graduated from the university in literary studies in 1864 and went on to receive a medical degree from St. Louis Medical College in 1866. He also attended medical schools in Chicago, New York, London and Paris, and visited medical schools in Germany.
A.W. McAlester
When the brand new “medical department” at the University of Missouri was begun in 1872, Dr. McAlester was appointed chair of Obstetrics and Surgery. He worked with his friend, Frank Nifong (Maplewood House) to develop the fledgling department into a real medical school. In 1880 he was appointed Medical Dean of the expanded medical department, a position he held until he retired at the age of 68 in 1909. Under his guidance, the medical school became a premiere teaching institution in medicine. He has been called the “Father of the University of Missouri School of Medicine” because of his “intent, interest in founding, establishing and organizing the school and getting it into action.”* In a lecture about medical education, he said: “To become successful doctors of medicine implies not only good soil, but good culture also. All culture and no soil makes Jack a dull boy; all soil and no culture reaches the same undesirable end.”*
from The Columbia Missouri Herald Jan. 17, 1902
About the time he was appointed Medical Dean, he also bought his tract of land on the east side of town, where he proceeded to build his farm. This included his handsome frame house on the hill, built in about 1883, with several barns, a windmill and many fences. His lane came in through a stone-built gateway, part of which can still be seen at the intersection of Country Club Drive and Old 63. He raised thoroughbred horses on his farm and showed them in local shows. As well as being a teacher of medicine, he was a medical doctor and probably had an office in his new home. The northern boundary of his farm laid along a line which is now McAlester street (and it’s imaginary extention); the southern boundary along the fence line south of South Country Club Drive, which divides our neighborhood from the ones to the south.
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* both quotes are cited in A History of Medicine in Missouri by E. J. Goodwin, published in 1905
