Kansas Masonic Home

The building you see today is not the original building of the Kansas Masonic Home but the one that replaced Robert Lawrence’s Maplewood Mansion – turned KMH after it burned to the ground in a tragic fire that killed five people in 1916. The fire left about 90 patients homeless and immediately work had to begin on a new one.

Plans for a quarter-million dollar, five-building project were underway. An insurance payout of $86,000 from the fire was collected, the rest of the funding was met through voluntary donations. Sketches of the facility were submitted by Lorentz Schmidt, W.T. Schmidt and E.L. Tilton. The most important architectural feature of all the proposed buildings? All would be completely fireproof.

A cornerstone celebration was held on November 19, 1917, with ceremonies being performed by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Kansas. A march from the Scottish Rite Temple to the new grounds happened under the guidance of a grand marshal and a squad of mounted police.

Over the next few decades, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of additions were made to the Kansas Masonic Home making it a massive campus. One of those additions was the 3 1/2 million dollar KMH Health Care Center to continue the care of senior citizens in 1980. An open house was held for the public to explore the facility, this came about a year after the campus was designated a historic landmark by the City of Wichita.

Expansions were on the way again in 2015, with a $22 million expansion and renovation completed. But this breath of fresh air that was hoped to bring new life into the almost century-old campus, would be the downfall of it. Problems came to light in September 2021, when the Kansas Masonic Home closed its long-term care facility, sharing it was going to focus on its other senior living options. In December 2022, residents received a last-minute notice that the KMH would be closing swiftly. This was because of the large debt acquired during the 2015 renovation and expansion, leaving them no other option but to give the property over to its bondholders.

Oxford Senior Living – Oxford Vista

After its closure almost a year earlier, it was announced in November of 2023 that the former Kansas Masonic Home was wrapping up its sale to Oxford Senior Living. The facility is set to open in 2024 under the name Oxford Vista with 137 units but will expand the campus later.

Gallery Below of Kansas Masonic Home

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