Longview Farm

Longview Farm is a historic estate in Lees Summit, Missouri, built in 1913 and 1914 by the lumber magnate Robert A. Long. Designed by architect Henry F. Hoit with landscaping by George Kessler, the 1,780 acre complex centered on a 22,000 square foot, 48 room mansion and included more than fifty supporting structures, among them horse barns, dairy facilities, staff housing and a chapel, earning it the nickname The Worlds Most Beautiful Farm. The self-sustaining property employed about 175 workers and raised prize Jersey cattle and Percheron draft horses. Longview Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985; parts of the estate are now occupied by Longview Farm Elementary School, the New Longview development, Metropolitan Community College, and the Longview Lake recreation area created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.