The Round Houses of Des Moines
February 18, 2011Happy Home Tour Friday to you! And a holiday weekend to boot!
A dear reader drives by these round houses in the Beaverdale area of Des Moines, Iowa and thought they were perfect for a Home Tour Friday.
I couldn’t have agreed more – I love this little nugget of history and architecture!
These round houses were all built in 1946-47, right as many GI’s returned from World War 2 and needed homes for their impending Baby Boom.
And just wait until you see how cute they are…
Super cute, right? At just 696 square feet, the house maximizes its space.
The front door opens into the living room, which doubles as the dining room.
To the right is a small. cozy kitchen.
The home also has two small bedrooms separated by a detached bathroom, just big enough to cram in a bathtub, toilet and sink
Ellen Bryant outside her round home.
Bryant has also made several improvements to her home: she stripped the carpet and wallpaper, uncovered gorgeous wood floors and repainted the walls.
Bryant also took down multiple walls that divided the circular concrete basement into what must have looked like a pie. She now uses the underground level for laundry.
Since finishing all the renovations, Bryant has worked on the outside and enjoys sprucing up the landscape, gardening and seeing her neighbors and families walk by her and her round house.
Many thanks to http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/des_moines_ia_4940_urbandale.html for use of photos and information.
Round House-palooza
After seeing this round home, I wanted more, so off we go on a Round House Tour of Des Moines…
This one is a tiny photo, but I liked how they added a garage onto this one.
Octagon Homes around Iowa
Perhaps these round houses get their roots from these larger Octagon homes built around the state in the 1850’s and 60’s.
in Monroe, Jasper County. Built in the late 1860’s, but is now in disrepair (though it looks pretty great in this photo).
in Muscatine, Iowa. Built in 1855, but sadly, is now gone.
in Dubuque, this is the Edward Langworthy Octagon house, built in 1857.
Pretty stunning, I’d say.
And lest you thought it was a small home…
I had the best time combing through old home photos at Inventory of Octagon, Hexagon, and Round Houses Website (in the Iowa section). Besides Wyoming which has 0, every other state in the union has at least 1 circular shape home. Canada has 62.
Many thanks to Chani M. for alerting me to this!
Have a fabulous weekend!!
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Tags: des moines iowa homes, Home tour Friday, round house |
Chani M
on February 18, 2011 10:00 am🙂 Thanks for taking it to such an awesome level!!
John Adelmann
on March 11, 2011 9:29 pmI am editing a book on the Dubuque Shot Tower, and some of the personalities associated with it include architect John F. Rague and James Langworthy. Some folks believe Rague had a hand in designing the Shot Tower because of its obelisk-like shape that was in keeping with the Egyptian Revival style of architecture he used to build the Old Jail in Dubuque. Langworthy was a miner in the early days of Dubuque history, and was also an owner of the Shot Tower.
I would like to get permission to use your image of the Langworthy House in Dubuque in the book. It’s based on student work, and it is not being sold by me for a profit, but will retail in stores this summer. Please contact me at 563-556-7641 to explore this further. Thank you.
John Adelmann
Ellen
on April 7, 2011 7:09 pmThe Dubuque octagon is one of the country’s Best!! Red Wing is also grand and was an antique shop at one time.
For anyone interested in octagon houses, I completed a book. Im a researcher and have been compiling info for 30 years.
You can view sample pages and more info at my link.
http://berniepuer.ipower.com/octagonbook/index.html
It covers 900 octagon houses in the US and Canada.
Ellen
Cheryl Johnson
on March 6, 2014 12:11 amHello!! My Grandfather, Clarence Russell Peterson was a builder of the Circle /Round homes located on Polk Blvd., this was called The Seashell ; also in Urbandale; & on 46th & Franklin . I’m trying to find out more information about these homes, along with some pictures. I would appreciate any help that you could give to me! Sincerely, Cheryl Johnson 1-218-750-0179 PO BX 471 Buhl, MN 55713