The Larnerd Case house (also known as Rose Hill) at 3111 Easton Boulevard is said to be the oldest home in Des Moines.  Different sources cite the original construction date from the early 1840’s to 1850. Owners appear to have loved the home, one…

Benjamin Franklin Allen and his wife Arathusa celebrated the completion of Terrace Hill on their fifteenth wedding anniversary, January 29, 1869. The home was designed by W.W. Boyington from Chicago, had 20 rooms, and is said to have cost the Allens…

The S.S. Brinsmaid house was the earliest known Prairie Style house in Iowa. It was designed by architect Arthur A. Heun and built in 1901 on the northeast corner of 36th and Grand. Heun is known for designing many large mansions in the Chicago area.…

William Wirt Witmer grew up the 12th of 13 children on Pennsylvania farm. He attended school at Gettysburg College, leaving it to enlist in the 104th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. After being mustered out he studied law and came to Muscatine,…

Byron Henry must have been feeling quite prosperous in 1918 when he and his wife Anna, along with their son Norman, moved from 1234 Ninth Street to 4995 Country Club Boulevard. At that time it was one of only a handful of houses in the area and…