Mason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties. It is commonly referred to as the "River City", as the city grew up centered on the Winnebago River.
The Dr. G.C. Stockman House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1908 for Dr. George C. and Eleanor Stockman in Mason City, Iowa. The home was originally located at 311 1st St. SE, but was moved to 530 1st St. NE to avoid demolition. It has been fully restored as a public museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It features numerous authentic period furnishings and reproduction pieces.
The August F. Martzahn House is a historic building located in the West End of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983.
The Edward C. Roberts House is a historic building located on the east side of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984.
The James F. Clarke House is a historic building located in Fairfield, Iowa, United States. This Prairie School house was built for Dr. Clarke in 1916. It was designed by Francis Barry Byrne, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. Byrne was a part of the Prairie School until its demise, and this house shows his movement away from its formal expression, but not its ideals. The two-story brick structure is capped with a low-pitched gable roof. It follows the idiom's use of open and flowing plans, but deviates in its use of simpler decorative forms and De Stijl-like colors. The windows, doors and baseboards are all plain and flat. Clarke was one of the first people in Jefferson County to own an automobile, and the house has one of the first attached garages. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Woodbine Public Library, also known as Carnegie Public Library, is located in Woodbine, Iowa, United States. The library was organized in 1907, and it was initially housed in the jail section of city hall. If there was inmate in the jail the public had no access to the library. The city council appointed a board of trustees in 1908 and they applied to the Andrew Carnegie for a grant to build a library building. They received a grant on April 28, 1909 for $7,500. Eisentraut and Company, a Sioux City architectural firm designed the Prairie School building. F.X. White of Eldora, Iowa was the contractor. The building was completed in February 1909, and it was dedicated on March 9 of the same year. This was the first library built in Harrison County.
The A.J. Andrus Duplex, also known as the Paul Pritchard Duplex, is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. The two story structure was completed in 1921 in the Prairie School style. Its most distinguishing feature is its C-shaped plan. The exterior is composed of brick on the first floor and stucco on the second floor. The duplex has a horizontal emphasis about it with a broad, overhanging hipped roof, and bands of windows. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The C.F. Franke House is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Built in 1916, the exterior of the two-story structure is covered with stucco. It utilizes the Mason City variant of the Prairie School style to stucco over corbelled masonry to form the wall panels for visual effect. Although the eaves on the second story were cut back almost flush with the walls, the house maintains its horizontal emphasis, including the grouping of the casement windows. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The E.R. Gibson House is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Built in 1915, this two-story stucco structure exhibits a strong Prairie School influence. It features a wide eaves, hip roof, a central chimney, and casement windows of leaded glass. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Lippert House is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Built in 1923, this two-story duplex is significant for its C-shaped plan and strong Prairie School influences. It features brick on the first floor, stucco on the second, wide eaves, broad hip roof, and a common utility wall. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The George Romey House, also known as the Bruce Girton House, is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. George A. Romey was a local realtor who worked in partnership with William L. Patton. He had Fred Lippert design this Prairie School house, which was built by J.M. Felt & Company in 1920. Bruce Girton, the later owner, operated the family feed business. The two-story brick house features wide eaves, broad hip roof, and groups of casement windows. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Chris Rye House is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Rye was a local contractor who built this Prairie School influenced house for his family. He may have designed it as well. Rye was responsible for constructing many of Walter Burley Griffin's houses in the Rock Crest – Rock Glen development, as well as other buildings in north-central Iowa. The exterior of the two-story house is a unique combination of brick and stucco, and it's capped with a hip roof. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Charles Seney House, also known as the Van Heel Residence, is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. This house is attributed to local architect Einar Broaten and built by Sivert Rivedal, a native of Norway. It utilizes the Mason City variant of the Prairie School style to stucco over corbelled masonry to form the wall panels for visual effect. The two-story house, completed in 1913, is capped with a hip roof. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The C.P. Shipley House was a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Clinton Pardes Shipley (1851-1936) was a native of Baltimore County, Maryland. He married Margaret A. McMillin (1853-1940) in Mason City on November 17, 1875. The two-story Prairie School house, completed in 1913, had a stucco exterior, a broad hip roof and overhanging eaves. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The house has subsequently been torn down. The Globe Gazette building is now on the property.
The Mier Wolf House was a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Wolf was a prominent member of the local business community, operating a furniture store. Completed in 1909, this house is an early example of Prairie School architecture in Mason City. While its architect is unknown, it exhibits similarities to Frank Lloyd Wright's Mayan Period. The house features geometric wall decorations, truncated, stylized piers, and paired sculpted shapes on the heavy fascia of the broad overhanging hip roof. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Curtis Yelland House is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Frank Lloyd Wright associate William Drummond designed this Prairie School style house, completed in 1910. The house features a strong horizontal emphasis, broad hip roofs, board-and-batten siding, stucco on the upper-story, and a centrally located fireplace and chimney round which the open plan interior revolves. The main entry is on the side of the house. The only entry to the front porch is from the living room. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The house suffered a devastating fire in 2008, and was almost torn down. However, developer Jeff Tierney bought the property and restored the house in 2010.
The Jewell Apartments is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Completed in 1917 by local contractor Fred Lippert, this apartment building is two C-shaped buildings joined together. Lippert may have also designed the building. Its Prairie School design creates a harmonious unity for this urban housing structure. The exterior of the two-story building features brick on the lower two-thirds and stucco on the upper third. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The First National Bank of Mason City, also known as Norwest Bank Building and City Center of Mason City, is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. It was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm of Liebbe, Nourse & Rasmussen, and it was the only Mason City commission for this firm. Completed in 1911, it was constructed by C.E. Atkinson of Webster City, Iowa who had built several other H.F. Liebbe designs. The 6½-story building follows the Early Commercial style. It features modestly decorated main floor and attic level with five floors of rather plain brick construction in between. The bank occupied most of the first floor and some of the office space above, while the other office space was taken up by professional offices. By the 1960s the bank occupied the whole building. John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, John Hamilton and Tommy Carroll robbed the bank on March 13,1934 and stole about $50,000. Dillinger was wounded in an exchange of gunfire during the heist. The building to the north of the bank was torn down in 1982 and a two-story annex to the bank replaced it. The bank building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, and as a contributing property in the Mason City Downtown Historic District in 2005. City Center of Mason City Inc. bought the building in 1995, and remodeled it into apartments and offices.
Parker's Opera House, also known as Opera House Store, Woolworth's and Parker Place, is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. It was designed by the prominent Des Moines architect William Foster. Cousins H.G. and A.T. Parker built this structure as an opera house, which was the first one in the community. While it initially filled a need in Mason City, it was replaced by more modern theatres around the turn of the 20th century. The third floor was created in the building in 1909 when it was placed across the middle of the auditorium. The first floor initially housed a clothing store, and F. W. Woolworth Company occupied it beginning in the mid-1920s, and the upper floors housed the local offices of the Standard Oil Company at the same time. The two-story addition in the rear was built in the 1960s. The first floor was redesigned in 1997 for Central Park Dentistry. The upper floors were converted into apartments in 2013.
The Rock Crest–Rock Glen Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. At the time of its nomination it contained 10 resources, which included eight contributing buildings, one contributing site, and one non-contributing building. All of the buildings are houses designed in the Prairie School style, and are a part of a planned development. Joshua Melson, a local developer, bought the property along Willow Creek between 1902 and 1908. Initially, there were only going to be 10 houses built, but the number grew to 16. While only half the houses planned were actually constructed, it is still the largest cluster of Prairie School houses in the country. The one non-contributing house is the 1959 McNider House, a Modern movement structure that was built where one of the planned houses was to be built, but never was. The architects who contributed to the district include Walter Burley Griffin, who provided the initial plan for the development; Barry Byrne, who took over from Griffin; Marion Mahony Griffin, Walter Griffin's wife and an architect in her own right; and Einar Broaten. Frank Lloyd Wright had a design that was never built here. The plans were used to build the Isabel Roberts House in River Forest, Illinois instead.
