Franny Knight — Kansas City Historic Homes & Neighborhood Storyteller
Creator of Urban Cool KC
The stories behind the places we love.
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The Franny Knight Show
Kansas City stories told through homes, neighborhoods, architecture and the people who shaped them.
Architecture · 21:14
The Shirtwaist: Kansas City's Signature House
Brick on the bottom, frame on top. In this episode Franny walks Hyde Park and Old Hyde Park to trace how one housing type came to define the look of an entire city.
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- Architecture
- KC History
- Urban Development
- Historic Homes
- Local Culture
- People & Places
KC Stories
Kansas City Has Stories Everywhere
An ongoing library of neighborhood history, architecture, development and local culture — written and filmed block by block.
Why Kansas City Has So Many Shirtwaist Houses
Brick below, frame above. The shirtwaist is Kansas City's signature house — and the reason has as much to do with fire codes and streetcar lines as with taste.
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The Rise, Fall & Reinvention of the West Bottoms
Stockyards, floods, freight and a second life as one of the most photographed districts in the city.
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How the Streetcar Changed Kansas City Neighborhoods
Follow the old car lines and you can still read them in the housing stock, the lot widths and the corner storefronts.
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The History Hidden Along Troost
One street, two cities. The story of how a boundary was drawn — and what's on both sides of it now.
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Why Brookside Looks the Way It Does
Planned shopping streets, deed restrictions and a developer with very specific opinions about awnings.
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The Architecture of Historic Northeast
Mansions on the bluff, Queen Annes on the side streets, and one of the densest concentrations of surviving Victorian housing in the region.
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Explore Kansas City Through Its Neighborhoods
Every neighborhood has a plat map, a transit line and an argument behind it. Start anywhere.
Historic District
Hyde Park
Streetcar-era grandeur and the city's densest run of shirtwaists.
Culture
Westside
Bluff-top color, murals and one of KC's oldest immigrant communities.
Industrial
West Bottoms
Brick warehouses, freight bridges and constant reinvention.
Victorian
Historic Northeast
Victorian mansions, Cliff Drive and Scarritt Point.
Planned
Brookside
A planned shopping street and the houses built around it.
Bungalows
Waldo
Bungalow country, built out along the old car line.
Eclectic
Longfellow
Quiet blocks with an unusual mix of eras on a single street.
Queen Anne
Pendleton Heights
KC's first suburb and a Queen Anne showcase.
Architecture
Know Your Kansas City House
A growing field guide to the styles that built this city — what defines them, when they were built and which streets to find them on.
About Franny
I Started With Houses. Then I Became Obsessed With Everything Around Them.
Franny Knight created Urban Cool KC because she became fascinated by Kansas City's historic and vintage housing stock — and realized most people didn't know the stories behind the houses and neighborhoods they passed every day.
After nearly two decades in real estate, her work expanded well beyond selling houses. Today she explores the architecture, neighborhood history, transportation, development, preservation, culture and social forces that shaped Kansas City.
She approaches these stories with curiosity and often through an anthropological lens — asking not only what a neighborhood looks like, but why it developed that way.
Real Estate
Selling a House With a Story?
Historic and distinctive homes require more than a sign in the yard. Franny and the Urban Cool KC Team help homeowners prepare, position and market properties through strong presentation, professional photography, thoughtful marketing and storytelling that helps buyers understand what makes the home special.
Speaking
Bring Franny To The Conversation
Neighborhood history, architecture, the anthropology of place, how transportation shapes cities, and building a recognizable niche brand — for panels, classrooms, conferences and community rooms.
Coaching
Build A Brand People Actually Remember
Coaching for real estate professionals and creators who want to develop a niche, become recognizable experts, create stronger content and build a real media presence around their expertise.
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