Molly Myers Naumann (1942-2025) had a significant impact on historic preservation for over 50 years through her work within multiple aspects of the field from her survey and nomination projects involving historic buildings in communities across Iowa, to her Architecture in the School residencies and workshops to teach all ages about historic architecture, to her [...]
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Nestled in Des Moines’ historic South of Grand neighborhood, 3750 on Grand thoughtfully balances historic and contemporary design in one of the city’s most prestigious locations. For 10 years, a church constructed in 1931 sat empty and fell into disrepair. The site was reimagined by the design team at Hartman Spiller, who saw immense potential [...]
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The Hotel Stuart, A National Historic Property, is a two-story building located at the southern edge of Stuart, Iowa. Having sat vacant for decades, this historic hotel originally constructed between 1906/1907, has been transformed to provide unique retail space on the first floor and contemporary apartment units on the upper floor. The National Register listed [...]
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The Winterset High School Apartments is the adaptive reuse of the original 1921 high school building into 27 senior living apartments.
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Located in Marshalltown, the Willards-Hopkins Rehabilitation provides a notable example of rehab and adaptive reuse for two masonry structures constructed around 1868. Historically, the Willards building operated as a regional furrier while the Hopkins building was a Main Street commercial space with peculiarly small private “offices” on the two upper levels. While being two distinctly [...]
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Designed by Prairie School architect William Steele, Sacred Heart Catholic Church displays a unique mix of Romanesque and Prairie style detailing and architecture. Construction on the church was begun in 1915 and was completed section by section over a number of years. The main part of the church was completed and dedicated in 1922. The [...]
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In the mid-1850s, James Townsend opened an inn called the Traveler’s Rest in this small frame house located at the time just east of the little town of West Branch. Townsend was a Quaker and ardent abolitionist, and the inn may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad. Local historic sources do record that [...]
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