Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site — Attraction in Kansas City

Our tour with Katie was spectacular! She really knows her history, and knows how to fit the material to her tour group seamlessly. She was thorough and personable, and was able to answer every question we had. I love the quirky bits of information she shared, like pointing out how Benton kept multiple copies of some books in particular and how you could tell he was going through a really confident stage in his career when he painted himself shirtless in the dining room.

We brought the entire family for a visit: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it, and there was something for everyone. It was particularly nice that the Benton Home was accommodating to wheelchairs so that my 94 year old grandma was able to go into Benton's studio. The only portion she couldn't access was the upstairs, but Katie had a photo album with all the information ready for Grandma to read while we went upstairs.

Highly...

The home is beautiful and it was fascinating to see the studio as Benton left it. The guide on our tour was a little short with us a couple of times (when I wandered a little ahead of her to peek in the next room and when my sister unknowingly touched a chair in the dining room) and that affected our enjoyment of the tour. We've never had anything but wonderful experiences on Missouri historic site tours before this, though, and I wouldn't let this experience stop me from recommending this...

This is easily the best house museum I've ever visited. Katie, our tour guide, was expert-level knowledgeable about Benton, his family, and the home and was wonderfully engaging by asking us questions and starting conversations. I had no idea that this place is the smallest national park in the US at a 1/3 of an acre! Very intimate experience and I felt like I came away with so much knowledge and insight. I hope to visit again soon and go on the Roanoke Walking Tour Katie...