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A Brief Survey of Historic Residences of Eastern Iowa
As I visit the cities and towns of eastern Iowa, I feel a certain history emanating off the roads I walk down, I hear it calling out to me from the hundred-year-old trees which shade me, but most of all, it speaks to me in silent whispers from the houses which stare back at me longing to tell their stories--their history.
Architectural historian Jan Nash, whose firm Tallgrass Historians conducts surveys on historical sites in Iowa, thinks that we should pay attention to the tales of these historical structures. "The physical remains of our past generations are our link to the past. More than just stories or books, these physical structures left behind on our visual landscape serve ultimately as tethers to our past generations."
Iowa City--The Original State Capital
Perhaps in no place more than Iowa City, the original capital of the state, is this feeling of history more palpable. Throughout the Old Capitol district, down streets like College or Jefferson, it is virtually impossible to turn a corner without finding a house rich in history. These houses, which are today used mostly as sororities, fraternities, apartment buildings, and business, were once the homes of Iowa's first families.
Plum Grove, the retirement residence of Iowa's first Territorial Governor, George Lucas, is one such home. Built in 1844, this modest two-story Georgian-style residence was built with local red brick and constructed in an architectural style reminiscent of Lucas' home in his native Ohio. According to Nash, "Plum Grove is highly valued by local residents because of its long chain of history--it is one of the first remaining homes that date back to the Territorial Capital period of Iowa City's history." Today, the restored home is open to the public, and much original furniture is intact, like the old-empire horsehair sofa, the tied rope beds, and the white mahogany bookshelf with a number of Lucas' own books. Plum Grove is located at 1030 Carroll Street, in the southeast side of town.
Across town, which was mostly open space and farmland back in the 1840s, sits the home of a colorful personality in Iowa City's history. Captain Frederick Macy Irish built Rose Hill, also a Georgian-style red brick home, in 1849. An experienced seaman, Captain Irish was well known for his storytelling. People would come from all over town to hear stories of his adventures, like how he swam his horse across the Mississippi River to attend a founding meeting of Iowa City. Neighborhood lore has it that Irish's house was a stop on the underground railroad, and in his front yard, a tree served as a trail marker for the local Indians.
Today, Mrs. Janet Goetz, who resides with her family at the 1415 Davenport St. location, is the first occupant of Rose Hill since it left the Irish family in 1950. "I just love living here," she says. "I am always aware of the history, especially in the basement--that is where the old Captain would tell his stories. I feel it is very much a part of living here to help carry on this home's history and tradition."
Just outside of Iowa City, in the small town of West Branch, stands a white board-and-batten wood cabin built in 1870 by Jesse Hoover--father of our 31st president. Herbert Hoover was born in 1874 in this tiny two-bedroom home, now maintained as a National Historic Site. Located next to Wapsinonoc Creek on the south side of town, the Herbert Hoover Historic Site offers tours of the former president's home and the posthumously constructed museum, where you can browse through the titles of Hoover's personal library.
Fairfield--Log Cabin to Prairie Style
Sixty miles south of Iowa City, in the small town of Fairfield, lies the state's oldest remaining pioneer cabin. Built in 1838 by Rhodham Bonnifield, this 16 by 28 foot log cabin sports a simple front porch with a shed roof and a fireplace built with local flat rock. In 1907 the cabin was relocated to what is now Waterworks Park, eight miles northwest of its original location.
Through its range of architecture, Fairfield reflects how quickly Iowa's frontier life became town life. Just 50 years after the Bonnifields moved into their cozy log cabin, in a barren land Mrs. Bonnifield called "a fair field," settlers started building elaborate Victorian residences.
During the Victorian era, c. 1850-1914, Americans experienced more prosperity than ever before and were eager to show it. Nothing more blatantly epitomizes Victorian architecture than the Queen Anne style. Perhaps more appropriately called "gingerbread" houses, these homes display an overabundance of ornate designs, both inside and out. Structurally they are marked by high porches and windows and tall towers and turrets on the outside, and high ceilings, dark stairways, and long halls on the inside.
In Fairfield, an outstanding example of this Queen Anne style can be found at 401 East Burlington. Built in 1896 by Fairfield entrepreneur James Beck, this three-story home, now painted decoratively in mauve and white, originally included a game room in the second story turret and a ballroom on the third floor.
However popular Victorian architecture was at the time, tastes gradually changed. Throughout the early 1900s architectural trends increased right along with population growth. Streamlined "Modern" homes sprang up next door to richly wrought Victorians, creating an eccentric blend of neighborhood esthetics.
Frank Lloyd Wright, who is perhaps America's most popular modern architect, introduced his Prairie School of home design as early as 1893: "I created the prairie style houses to reflect the flatness of the vast prairie region. . . . I feel that a building ought to appear to grow easily from its site." Wright's organic home designs found fertile soil in Iowa.
Amidst the backdrop of a modest Victorian neighborhood at 500 S. Main in Fairfield stands one of these Prairie-style houses. Built in 1915 by Wright student Barry Bourne, the house seems to nestle within its lot--as if it were born there. This is more than can be said of its Victorian neighbors.
Eldon--The Famed Gothic House
Of all the homes in Iowa, the most famous is found in a quiet, out of the way town about 20 miles southwest of Fairfield. At the corner of Barton and Gothic streets in Eldon is a little white plank house with a unique second story gothic window. Built in 1881, this house served as the backdrop in Grant Wood's 1930 painting American Gothic. Wood, who at the time lived in Iowa City, keyed into something uniquely American when he drove through Eldon and chose to paint that house. Well received in its day, American Gothic is now housed in the Art Institute of Chicago and remains one of the most widely recognized images of American life.
Oskaloosa--Frank Lloyd Wright Home
And at 511 N. Park Avenue, in nearby Oskaloosa (about 30 miles northwest of Fairfield), resides a dramatic example of Wright's own Prairie-style design. Built in 1950, this house uses extreme horizontal lines, with an extensive overhanging roof, to mirror the vast expanses of the unbroken Iowa landscape.
Uniquely American Architecture
From Iowa's first humble frontier dwellings, to the glorious homes of the Victorian era, to the regional Prairie architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, these structures have one thing in common--they offer an irreplaceable cultural perspective, reflecting our identity as Americans, as Iowans, and as people. As Winston Churchill once said, "We shape our buildings, and then our buildings shape us."
