Simmons House was built between the years of 1899-1900 by F.W. Simmons and boasts 5013 square feet of living space. It was designed by New York architect F.R. Comstock and is the anchoring structure for the east end of the Fifth Street Bluff Historic District. When purchased by the current owners in 2017, the house [...]
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The Le Mars Historic Preservation Commission used a variety of approaches to enhance awareness of local history in the years leading up to the city’s 150th anniversary in 2019. The focus was the publication of a hard cover pictorial history of Le Mars containing over 1800 images and related narratives. The HPC reached out to [...]
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As one of Iowa’s premier performing arts organizations, Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) embarked on a $3.5 million dollar campaign to restore and expand the National Register of Historic Places Carnegie Library they call home. The opera had maintained the building’s historic integrity. Working with OPN Architects created a new design that not only preserves [...]
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An historic building in downtown Jefferson was chosen as the site for the new tenant. Working with architects, engineers, and the State Historical Preservation Society, the developer made plans to rehabilitate this 100+ year old building, which was formerly known as the Odd Fellows Building and features a brick on the front reading “1904.” The [...]
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The Graceland Cemetery Chapel in Avoca, Iowa is a 320 square-foot single-story, single-space building constructed around 1875. The chapel, also referred to as the “Octagon Building,” is a picturesque object-in-field structure acting as a key focal point in the undulating wooded landscape of the surrounding Graceland Cemetery. The Graceland Cemetery Chapel rehabilitation was performed under [...]
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Transforming 1800 square feet of an 1868 grain elevator into a coffee shop poses unique challenges. The owners designed the interior to keep with the integrity and character of the stone building and wood hoppers, which are original to the building. They used scrap lumber, tin, and recycled cabinetry to create the coffee shop, which [...]
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As Iowa’s only National Trust Historic Site, Brucemore is a significant tourist attraction in Iowa, greeting more than 1,000,000 visitors since 1981. The restoration is part of a multiyear, $4.5 million effort to preserve the 19th century Queen-Anne style mansion. The project focused on the roof slate, window glass and wood, exterior trim, stone masonry, [...]
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Architectural Record christened 711 High Street the Building of the Decade the year it was built. By 1939-standards, the beautiful art deco building incorporated many unique and innovative systems. Principal understood the building’s significance as well as the impact it would have on current and future employees. The 473,000 square-foot building, which occupies an entire [...]
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Hotel Maytag is a magnificent, five-story brick and terra cotta mixed-use building on the northeast quadrant of Newton’s town square. Originally designed by Chicago architect Henry Raeder and constructed by Frederick Louis Maytag in 1926- 27, Hotel Maytag was both innovative and luxurious for its time. The building served as Newton, Iowa’s main event hub [...]
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