Fred Parry has long been a unique figure in Columbia, whether due to his involvement in local media as a radio talk show host and magazine publisher or as a frequently staunch critic of the powers that be and the machinations of local government. It’s safe to say – and Parry is quick to agree with a self-deprecating laugh – that he has opinions, and he’s sometimes a lightning rod for others’ discontent or causes.
This summer, the erstwhile Boone County commissioner added an additional, if not unofficial title as a historic home restorer, and it’s a noteworthy project that in many ways builds and maintains the popular legacy of his late wife, Melody.
“Honestly, it was kind of an emotional buy,” Parry said Thursday morning as workers were busy painting, cutting and installing tile and flooring, and going over plans for the next phases of restoring the stately, historic home at 604 W. Broadway. “My wife loved this house.” After her death, when the property was listed for sale, Parry said he “got into a little bit of a competitive bidding war to get it.”
When the restored home is open for public tours later this fall – before it goes on the market – visitors will be encouraged to make donations to Love Columbia, a Parry-favored nonprofit that, among other things, helps first time homeowners gain financial literacy skills and, sometimes, downpayment assistance. The former John and Belle Mitchell house, named after the original owners, won’t be a first-time home due to its price range (likely more than $2 million), but the “Inspiration Home” sign in front of the property and the restoration work should increase awareness about Love Columbia and its programs.
While Parry has a demonstrable breadth of knowledge about a variety of topics, ranging from local politics to magazine publishing, restoring a historical home seems like a stretch even in his vast repository of talents. But that image was already well deserved based on the work he and Melody put into their own house.
Parry’s personal home, also on West Broadway, was built in 1920 and needed restoration to its original glory when he and Melody purchased it a quarter century ago.
“We worked on that house 25 years room-by-room, so we picked up some of the skillsets, and I had a general idea of how to bring out the charm in an old house,” Parry says. “Melody and I drove by this house at 604 West Broadway and daydreamed about living in that house one day because it looked like a fairytale. It’s a very grand house and the closest thing Columbia had to mansion back in 1914. We had fallen in love with that house, and I didn’t have a game plan when I bought it this year.”
The John and Belle Mitchell House
The home at 604 West Broadway is known as the John and Belle Mitchell house after its original owners, and while Parry may not have known exactly what his plan was when purchasing, that didn’t last long. He decided to document the restoration process of restoring the home on Facebook to demonstrate that it is possible to take an old historic home, add all the modern conveniences to it, “and make it a charming home without tearing it down and starting over.”
There was fierce competition for the Mitchell house, Parry said, including investors who wanted to tear down the home and subdivide the property into plots. Thanks to an escalation clause by his Realtor and son, Nick Parry, and being able to meet with the owners’ children, Parry won the bidding war.
“People will pay $450,000 in that neighborhood for a home just to tear it down and build a new house on the same spot,” Parry said. “We didn’t want to see that happen. I was able to meet the children of the family who owned it and walk through the house – I had never been in the house – I kind of went through and said, ‘Here’s what I would do here and here,’ and we hit it off and they could tell we loved the house. Since we had already restored one home on West Broadway that was very appealing to them.”
The home was built in 1914 for $10,000, a shocking price for the time. The newspaper of the time, the Columbia Herald-Statesman, had a feature article about the house, explaining that John Mitchell was the first commissioner of banking for the state of Missouri, but didn’t get to enjoy the home on West Broadway for long because he succumbed to influenza in 1921. Since then, five families have made the Mitchell house home, and most of those families were prominent members of society, hosting fundraisers and parties at the home. One such family was Mary Stauffer’s, the owner of Tallulah’s. Her parents were among those who owned the house.
Saving Columbia’s History
Earlier this summer, there was buzz about another West Broadway historic home, at 703 W. Broadway, that was slated for demolition. Although Parry already had one massive renovation underway, he stepped in and purchased the second home to save it from demolition.
“You go out to Boonville or Fayette, and they have streets of beautiful old houses,” he says. “It’s shocking to me that Columbia has done such a poor job of preserving historic homes. Our plan is to make it livable enough that a young couple can come along and move in and fix it up as they go along.” The plan is to put in a new kitchen and update the bathroom, in addition to cleaning out the home.
“If no one buys it, we will do the restoration to bring it back to its 1902 glory like the home at 604 W. Broadway,” he explains. “But our goal is to sell it to a young family or couple who wants to fix it up themselves.”
In the Old Southwest portion of Broadway where Parry lives, he notes that six houses were torn down in the last two years to make way for new houses.
“What we’re doing [when that happens] is destroying the historical integrity and character of this old historic neighborhood to build brand new homes that are often oversized and are built right up to the curb,” he says.
“The new homes are nice but out of character in the neighborhood where they’re being built,” he adds. “If you want to enjoy an old, centrally located neighborhood, restore the home and add the latest and greatest bathrooms, kitchens, etc., but design it in a way that fits in the house.”
That’s what is happening with the Mitchell house: “We’re providing all the modern conveniences while preserving the historical integrity of the house.”
The Restoration Team
What makes Parry’s project unique to anyone else restoring or even flipping houses in Columbia is that he’s documenting the entire process on a Facebook page called “Inspiration Home 2026.” He’s using the Facebook page to bring attention to the need for restoring, rather than destroying old homes, as well as highlighting the contractors.
“I’m using vendors people don’t know that much about and so I’m highlighting some of the people helping us restore the house,” Parry says. A few of these include general contractor Andrew Alton of Legacy Builders Construction, LLC; plumber Jared Tousain with Highline Plumbing; electricians Reilly Long and Christian Reading with LR Signature Electric; and carpenters Zach Baier and Genaro Cabrera with Elwood Trim and Cabinetry.
As most people who tackle a home renovation know, it’s never as easy as you expect. Parry says there’s been a few obstacles during the restoration process, including water damage and brick issues.
“The big surprise was there was about $150,000 in water damage in the house. There’d been severe issues with guttering and the roof, so water was pouring into the house,” he explains. “There was a lot of disintegrated wood and flooring, so we had to rebuild things that were destroyed.”
The second surprise, if you can call it that, was hidden by ivy.
“The entire west elevation of the home was covered in beautiful ivy, which isn’t good for brick,” Parry says. “Once we started tearing that down, we noticed the brick had separated from the house by almost 6 inches from the wood structure. Animals had gotten into those gaps and chewed up a lot of the interior frame of the house. We had to take apart all of the 1914 bricks from that side of the house and rebuild it, brick-by-brick.”
Tour the Restored Home This Fall
Despite a few unforeseen hurdles, Parry expects the home to be completed this fall. He plans to open the newly restored home for tours in November. Due to the extensive restoration required for the home, there will not be a profit from the sale, he says, but tour donations will go directly to Love Columbia.
“Love Columbia has an amazing first-time home-buyers program where they help families get finances and credit history in order to buy their first home,” he says. “They also have a fund that significantly helps families with their down payment. We’re going to open the home to the public for one month asking for donations to Love Columbia.”
To stay updated on the progress of the John and Belle Mitchell home and learn when tours are available, follow “Inspiration Home 2026” on Facebook.
