leading double liveshouse catalog(1920); and aladdin homes (1917). sears, roebuck, and company,who...

Leading Double Lives:[ The History of the Double House in Des Moines ]

PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN ZELLER 2004


byCamilla Deiber

Edited by K. Kris HirstTHE Louis Berger Group, INC.

For Iowa Department of Transportation

with special thanks to:John Zeller and the Reference and Special Collections staff at the

State Historical Society of Iowa Library at Iowa City and Des Moines.

This booklet was produced under the terms of a Memorandum of Agreement, pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, between the Federal Highway Administration and Iowa State Historic Preservation Office regarding improvements to Interstate 235 in Des Moines.

Designed by To the Letter Type & Design, Marion. Printed by J&A Printing, HiawathaCover and Inset Photo: John Zeller 2005

April 2004

[ I N T R O D U C T I O N ]

[ 2 LEADING DOUBLE LIVES ]


How people choose to live depends on a varietyof social and economic circumstances. Singlefamily dwellings, extended family compounds,and communal apartment blocks are all formsof residential architecture that have ancientroots and occur in every culture. Each formboth reflects and affects the living styles of thepeople who reside there. The double house,which shelters two families in units separatedby a wall or floor, balances the convenience ofan apartment with the psychological comfortsof a home. During the mid to late nineteenthand early twentieth centuries in the UnitedStates, the double house was hugely popular insome cities, such as Minneapolis and Milwau-kee, but only a minimal presence in DesMoines (Table 1). What was the cause for thisdisparity? What were the factors that causedthe selection of this house type in great num-bers? What is the social context that makes thedouble house a desirable commodity, and towhom would it be attractive?

Closer examination of census figures forthe early twentieth century indicates thatpreferences for dwelling varied along lineswhich are not immediately clear (Table 1).For example in 1900, Minneapolis had a totalof 31,836 dwellings and Indianapolis had36,160, making them two similarly-sized mid-western towns. But 93.9 percent of Indiana-polis’ structures were single-family dwellings,while only 74.8% of Minneapolis’s structures

were. Comparing Albany (13,567 total, 53.4%single family) and Buffalo (49,914 total, 69.4%single family) in New York state shows thatthe differences weren’t necessarily a result ofregional or ethnic tastes.

Of most interest to this study is the relativepopularity of double house living circumstances.In some cities, the duplex style of living madeup nearly 20% of all dwellings, while in others,

[ THE HISTORY OF THE DOUBLE HOUSE IN DES MOINES 3 ]

TABLE 1. RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE TYPES FOR SELECTED CITIES, 1900 CENSUS

Total No. No. Single No. DoubleCity of Dwellings Family House % Single % Double % Other

Albany NY 13,567 7,242 4,949 53.38% 36.48% 10.14%Buffalo NY 49,914 34,609 10,716 69.34% 21.47% 9.19%Charleston SC 8,679 5,925 1,613 68.27% 18.59% 13.15%Cincinnati OH 40,634 24,475 8,548 60.23% 21.04% 18.73%Cleveland OH 63,205 50,354 10,224 79.67% 16.18% 4.16%Columbus OH 24,219 22,098 1,641 91.24% 6.78% 1.98%Des Moines IA 12,708 11,645 896 91.64% 7.05% 1.31%Detroit MI 52,046 45,328 5,522 87.09% 10.61% 2.30%Duluth MN 8,179 6,937 981 84.81% 11.99% 3.19%Evansville IN 11,534 10,881 547 94.34% 4.74% 0.92%Grand Rapids MI 18,049 16,028 1,737 88.80% 9.62% 1.57%Indianapolis IN 36,160 33,954 1,716 93.90% 4.75% 1.36%Kansas City KS 10,454 9,454 798 90.43% 7.63% 1.93%Kansas City MO 28,027 22,802 3,558 81.36% 12.69% 5.95%Milwaukee WI 45,809 34,608 9,396 75.55% 20.51% 3.94%Minneapolis MN 31,836 23,823 6,593 74.83% 20.71% 4.46%Nashville TN 15,239 13,284 1,375 87.17% 9.02% 3.81%Peoria IL 10,893 10,075 678 92.49% 6.22% 1.29%San Francisco CA 53,323 42,255 7,750 79.24% 14.53% 6.22%St. Paul MN 24,681 20,479 3,406 82.97% 13.80% 3.23%

Note: “Double House” in the 1900 census refers to the number of families living in a single structure, and does not necessarilyrepresent an accurate count of the number of ‘double house’ structures.Source: US Bureau of the Census 1900

such as Des Moines, the style only made upabout 7% of total dwellings. According to the1900 and 1930 censuses, double family dwel-lings comprise at least 20% of the total dwel-lings from the following cities: Cambridge, FallRiver, Lynn, New Bedford, and Worcester,Massachusetts; Albany, Buffalo, New YorkCity and Syracuse, New York; Elizabeth,Jersey City, and Newark, New Jersey;

Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago,Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and St. Louis,Missouri. The size of these cities range fromquite large such as Chicago and New York toquite small such as Fall River, Massachusetts,whose population in 1930 was 14,224. Whatdo these cities have in common? Most, but

not all, of these cities are in the northeast.Nearly all of these cities had largely industrialeconomies or were near large industrialcenters. These cities are also all older commu-nities, with entrenched urban residentialpatterns, relatively high land costs and/or ashortage of developable land.1

By contrast, the double house in Des Moinesaccounted for only 7% of the total dwellingsin 1900 and only 4.5% in 1930.2 There aremany factors that suppressed the extensivedevelopment of the double house in DesMoines. Historically, industry was not a pre-dominant factor in Des Moines’ economy-thecity’s workforce from 1910 to 1930 was mostlycomprised of clerical workers, skilled laborers,and individual proprietors.3 Land costs in thecity were relatively low and developable landwas plentiful; and in fact, Des Moines still issurrounded by agricultural fields into whichdevelopment continues more or less unhin-dered, despite its modern day size of 77.9square miles.4 These factors most likely alsocontributed to record home-ownership ratesin the 1920s in the “City of Homes,” as cityfathers marketed Des Moines in the 1920s.5

While large horizontal growth such as thatseen in Des Moines can cause transportationproblems, a vast network of streetcars in placeby the 1890s facilitated the widespread con-struction of single-family homes and doublehouses throughout the city and eased the needfor worker housing developments adjacent toindustrial complexes. With widely availablepublic transportation in the form of street cars,and eventually the personal automobile, thecity could comfortably grow out and not up.


IOWA STATE PLANNING BOARD, 1935

The first mention of a double house in theIowa State Register was on August 21, 1877.The article, entitled “Handsome Houses,”reported that downtown businessman ConradYoungerman had constructed a two-storyItalianate style stone double house at 523West Third Street[c1].6 Youngerman’s doublehouse featured hot and cold running water,gas lights, and steam heat.

A surge in population and expansion of thecity in the 1880s created a housing shortage anda resulting boom of new building. Tenements,row houses and “French flats” or luxury apart-ments were popular solutions to the housingshortage in the early 1880s. These structureswere built near the street car lines in the centerof town on Locust, Chestnut, Walnut andMulberry Streets. Such attached forms ofhousing were easy to build and needed verylittle land, making them popular housingalternatives in the rapidly spreading city.

Though not as popular as row houses,double houses continued to be constructed at a steady pace throughout the late 19th cen-tury. In 1882 and 1883, six double houses wereconstructed. Among them, George Garver

constructed a double house on Court Avenuenear the State Capitol in early February1882.7 The architectural firm of Foster andLiebbe designed a double house located at 9thand Walnut Streets.8 A Mr. Rawson con-structed a “double tenement house” on WestWalnut Street.9 In September of 1882, a“handsome structure...two stories high and amansard roof” was mentioned as having beenconstructed in the 1500 block of WestLocust Street by Mr. Charles Atkins.10

In general, early nineteenth-centurydouble houses were constructed by promi-nent individuals as their primary resi-dence, renting the other residence foradditional income. Double houses in thenineteenth century were predominantlyside-by-side dwellings constructed in thelatest architectural styles includingItalianate and Queen Anne. Buildingswere often designed by local architectsand builders such as Foster & Liebbeand C. C. Cross. Extant nineteenthcentury double houses exhibit a vari-ety of building materials includingbrick, stone and wood.


[ T H E D O U B L E H O U S E I N T H E 1 9 T H C E N T U R Y D E S M O I N E S ]

(JO

SE

PH

P.B

US

HN

ELL

,18

90)


The twentieth century marked a change inthe design of double houses. Though moreexpensive double houses continued to bedesigned by local architects including Proud-foot and Bird, Smith and Gutterson, and C.K. Denman, designs for moderate cost housingwere increasingly taken from popular trademagazines and plan books. The Queen Annestyle house at 1621 E. 9th Street is remarkablysimilar to a house featured in The Manufacturerand Builder. By the 1920s, plan books withdouble house designs were widely available,including Radford’s Stores and Flat Buildings(1909); Comstock’s Two-Family and TwinHouses (1908); Duplex and Apartment Houses(1923) by John Lindstrom; Bennett’s SmallHouse Catalog (1920); and Aladdin Homes(1917). Sears, Roebuck, and Company, whosold ready-to-assemble homes from 1908 to1940, featured several double-house designsincluding the Windermere, Lakeland, Gar-field, and Cleveland. The Des Moines Register& Leader also included house plans in its realestate and home planning sections. However,several studies suggest that it is likely that localbuilders did not use these plans, but ratheradapted them according to their own andclient’s tastes.11 Very few extant double houses

in Des Moines are identical to plans presentedin the Des Moines newspapers or other com-monly available house plan sources.

In the first few decades of the twentiethcentury, double houses were constructed nearstreetcar lines particularly north and east ofthe Capitol in Capital Park, Goodhue’sAddition, Union Addition and Stewart’sAddition; and to the north and west of the cityin Chetwynd, Fagen Place, Grand AvenueHeights, Greenwood Park, Hansing Place,Hedges Addition, Ingersoll Park, IngersollPlace, Ingleside, Kingman Place, Lyons Park,Pursley Estate, Rhoads Heights, RiverviewPark, and Winton Place. Though the majorityof double houses were constructed in primarilysingle-family subdivisions, a few concentra-tions of double houses can be found in the 800 block of Des Moines and 16th Streets;700 block of 19th Street; 1900 block ofPleasant Street; and the 900 and 1100 blocksof Walker Street.

Many of the subdivisions where concentra-tions of double houses are found, especiallythose located north and west of the Capitoland north of Grand Avenue, were settled byScandinavians, Italians, and Jews.12 City direc-tory and deed research of double houses built


[ D O U B L E H O U S E 1 9 0 0 - 1 9 1 5 ]

DES MOINES REGISTER AND LEADER APRIL 30, 1916

MANUFACTURER AND BUILDER, APRIL 1888

between 1907 and 1920 in these areas revealsthat over 25% of the double houses wereowned or occupied by people of various ethnicorigins. Germans with surnames such asReinke, Schnabel, Pranke, Kruse, Keefner, andRundberg owned and/or occupied the greatestnumber of double houses predominantly locat-ed in subdivisions west of the river includingChetwyn, Ingersoll Park, Kingman Place, T EBrowns 2nd Addition, Rhoads Heights, andBarclays and Fullers Addition. AndrewRundberg and J. F. Keefner both occupied one-half of the double house that they owned at1132 18th Street and 1518 Des Moines Street,respectively. Scandinavian, Christian Johansen,owned a double house at 1035 E. 7th Streetthat was occupied by fellow countrymen,Alfred Dahlstrom and Jacob Anselberg. M. H.Shrevas owned a double house at 1533 E.Grand Avenue-one of the only Jewish settlersfound to own a double house from the studiedperiod. Frenchman, Louis Toubes, owned twodouble houses that he operated as rental prop-erties in Capital Park-one on 8th Street andone on 12th Street. As every ethnic settle-ment does not correspond with every concen-tration of double houses, it is unclear whetherthere is a direct correlation between the doublehouse and a particular ethnic neighborhood.The correlation between ethnic settlementand double houses may merely be coinciden-tal—the settlement period of ethnic groups

coinciding with the platting of newsubdivisions.

The trend of double house con-struction by individuals continuedinto the first few decades of thetwentieth century. However, veryfew double houses were owner-occupied, a notable exceptionbeing the Tudor Revival StarrDouble House at 5135 ShriverAvenue. The majority of earlytwentieth-century double hous-es were constructed for use asinvestment properties ratherthan residences-rented by sin-gle professional men such as managers,clerks, salesmen, and lawyers; and widowedwomen. This is particularly evident in close-in suburbs such as Capital Park, where busi-ness and professional people and the workingclasses migrated from the inner city.13

Construction of double houses in the firsttwo decades of the twentieth century directlymirrors the overall level of building in the city.The table below shows the construction datesof extant double houses in Des Moines, num-bers which most certainly are lower than thetotal number built in that period. Economicdownturns in 1903-1904 and 1906-1907 allbut halted housing construction in Des Moines,while double house construction surged duringup times in 1900 and again in 1910.

TABLE 2 DATES OF CONSTRUCTION OFEXTANT DOUBLE HOUSES: 1900-19201

YEAR N YEAR N1900 17 1911 11901 2 1913 51902 3 1914 21903-04 0 1915 41905 7 1916 31906 1 1917 31907 1 1918 01908 4 1919 31909 1 1920 41910 9

1 Building dates are all estimates taken from architectural style, directory research, and building dates in the Polk County Assessorsonline property database www.assess.co.polk.ia.us/index.html



Around 1915, the double-decker form of doublehouse began to emerge. Unlike the tradition-al side-by-side double house, double-deckerdouble houses often had the appearance of asingle family dwelling with only one exteriordoor and an asymmetrical façade. Built in avariety of styles including Colonial Revival,Tudor Revival, and Prairie, this new formblended well into traditional single-familyneighborhoods. By the mid-1920s, the double-

decker was the predominant type of doublehouse being constructed.

Many double-decker double houses werebeing constructed by real estate developers forsale on the market or as investment propertiesmanaged by the developer. In 1928, J. C.Ferguson announced a $300,000 developmentof fifteen double-house rental properties andfive single-family residences in the Grassmeresubdivision. The duplexes located along Urban-

dale Avenue between 41st Street Place and44th Street were to be constructed, owned andoperated by the Ferguson Company.14 The two-story brick Tudor Revival duplexes featured fiveand six room apartments with fireplaces, bath-tubs and showers, “electric refrigeration,” gasstoves, laundry facilities, and a janitorial service.Ferguson related that the construction of theduplexes was a result of the “popularity of thefamily apartment which gives the tenant theadvantages of both the apartment and home”.15

Ferguson’s instincts on the popularity of suchhousing must have been ill-founded, however, asonly 3 of the 15 proposed double houses were builtalong Urbandale Avenue. In contrast, it appearsthat all five of the single-family residences weresuccessfully constructed. Within a few years,Ferguson built three more double houses on43rd Street in the Grassmere subdivision.

The trend of small development clusters ofdouble houses continued through the end of thedecade. In 1929, Roy W. Johnson launched aprogram to construct four duplexes on the cor-ner of 31st Street and Kingman Boulevard.The four buildings featured “fireproof” con-struction of brick walls and concrete floors,mahogany and gum wood interior woodwork,“vapor heat,” enameled kitchens and baths,and brick and tile garages shared by the eighttenants. This was the only double-house devel-opment in Des Moines known to includegarages—a true indication of the growingimportance of the automobile in the city.16


[ D O U B L E H O U S E 1 9 1 5 - 1 9 2 3 ]

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT: C

AM

ILLAD

EIB

ER

For a variety of reasons, no double houseswere constructed in Des Moines between1932 and 1946. The onset of the Depressionmeant the collapse of the housing market inDes Moines and across the country; but it wasonly temporary. In 1934, the Federal govern-ment passed the National Housing Act, mak-ing it easier for people to obtain mortgagesand home improvement loans, part ofPresident Roosevelt’s New Deal efforts toreduce unemployment and stimulate the

economy. The Act insured individual depositaccounts through the Federal Savings andLoan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) andguaranteed mortgages through the FederalHousing Administration (FHA).17

The New Deal programs began to takeeffect by 1939, the year in which buildingactivity reached record levels in Des Moines.That year, Des Moines housing stock consist-ed of 79.7% single-family, 2.8% two-family,9.1% apartments, 6.9% boarding houses, and

1.6% hotels and institutions.18 During WorldWar II, new housing construction was embar-goed everywhere in the country except for“defense areas” located near critical defenseoperations such as munitions plants. Iowa hadfour declared defense areas-Council Bluffs,Burlington, Davenport, and Des Moines,home to Camp Dodge and Fort Des Moinestraining camps.19 The influx of war workersand their families into Des Moines created arental housing crunch. In 1942, rental vacan-cies were eight tenths of one percent of theentire rental market in the city.20

Towards the end of World War II, sales ofindividual homes rocketed. The Veteran’sAssociation home loan program was author-ized in 1944 and the next year homes sales inDes Moines experienced a 33% increase.Many of the homes sold in late 1944 and early1945 still addressed the rental propertyshortage, as they were former single-familyresidences which had been converted intoapartments. But by the end of the war, Federalhousing programs such as the NationalHousing Agency’s (NHA) H1 and H2 pro-grams focused attention on single-familyhousing for returning servicemen. Buildingpermits in the first nine months of 1946exceeded the total of any previous year.


The asymmetrical nature of the Tudor Revival style did not readily lend itself to the double house form, though J. C. Ferguson did successfully design a number of Tudor Revival dou-ble houses on 43rd Street and Urbandale Avenue. Other styles such as Colonial Revival, Prairie,and Craftsmen with their rectangular massing were more compatible with the double house form.

By the 1930s, the double house had become an important element in the housing make-upof the city. A 1934 housing inventory reported a total of 941 duplex units in the city (2% of thetotal 37,341 dwelling units) and espoused their advantages and disadvantages:

Less expensive than the single-family dwelling but still without less inherent advantages of themore concentrated types, the common duplex or two-family dwellings with one apartment onthe first floor and one on the second, are both relatively common types in Des Moines. Theadvantages claimed for the duplex are similar to those claimed for other group dwelling types;namely, economics effected through saving in fuel and in quantity of material. It advocates alsopoint out that it offers greater privacy than the apartment house. Such claims are of course justi-fiable. However, the difference in cost and operation expense between the duplex and the single-family dwelling is probably not sufficient to dictate the choice of this type in preference to thesingle-family unit. If lowering the cost is of primary importance, a type more intensive than theduplex is to be preferred.

The problem of a pleasing aesthetic design for the duplex presents some difficulties. They arenot insurmountable, but in the hands of the average builder the duplex in the past has beenbelow a standard of appearance which should be maintained. The use of the three family apart-ment as a type of dwelling unit has been almost negligible in Des Moines. The districts occupiedby these two- and three-family dwellings parallels almost identically the apartment house areas,which is due in part to the regulations imposed by the zoning ordinances.

(Iowa State Planning Board 1935: 27, as cited in Jacobsen’s Building a City of Homes, 2002:41)

In October of 1946, the NHA announced a newaccelerated depreciation tax plan program for rentalhousing that did not restrict owners to making equalinstallments.21 Around the time that this new programwas announced, the double house again emerged onthe housing scene in Des Moines. Between 1946 and1951, at least eighty-eight (88) double houses wereconstructed in numerous subdivisions in the cityincluding Black Oaks Replat, Broadmoor, ChautauquaPark, Chetwynd, Clover Acres, Colonial Acres,Conroy Place, Country Club Knolls, Floral Hill, GrantPark, Hallett Acres, Highlawn, Inghams Addition,Kingman Court, Lyons Park, Merritt and FischersPark, Moingona Park, Monroe Place, Polk Place,Popular Heights, Ryders Place, Polk and Hubbell Park,Turner Place, and Wiltsie Place. Like their pre-WorldWar II counterparts, most double houses were con-structed throughout the city and interspersed amongstsingle-family houses. A few small developments ofdouble houses were constructed on Woodland Avenuein Black Oaks Replat, Polk Boulevard in ConroyPlace, 29th Street in Inghams Addition, KingmanCircle in Kingman Court, and Forest Drive in Polkand Hubbell Park.

Like most standardized housing built after WorldWar II, double houses in Des Moines were simple inform, and followed five distinct types-pyramidal one-story, pyramidal two-story, side-gable one-story, flat

roof two-story, and hipped roof ranch. The most pre-dominant type in Des Moines was the pyramidal one-story type, which featured a symmetrical main façadewith two large multi-pane windows flanked byentrances to each unit. Some variations of this forminclude basement garages, gable extensions, and smalldoor awnings. The side gable one-story double housefeatured the same arrangement of windows and doorson the main façade as the pyramidal type. The sym-metrical façade of the pyramidal two-story type con-tained paired double-hung windows on the first leveland a single double-hung window on the second. Theflat roof two-story brick and hipped-roof ranch doublehouses also had symmetrical façades. The majority ofthese buildings were constructed with concrete orframe faced with brick.

There were a number of realtors that specialized inthe construction and sale of these standardized doublehouses including Coon Brothers, J. R. McNeal RealtyCompany, O. L. Wiltsie Construction Company, NewHome Construction, Baker Company Incorporated,and Hawkeye Developments. J. R. McNeal Realty wasby far the most successful double house developer,building over 50% of the double houses in Des Moinesbetween 1946 and 1951. During that period, McNealran a series of advertisements touting his specialty indouble houses.22


[ D O U B L E H O U S E S I N T H E P O S T - W A R E R A ]


PHOTO CREDIT: CAMILLA DEIBER

[ 12 LEADING

AURORA AVE.

DOUGLAS AVE.

URBANDALE AVE.

HICKMAN RD.

FRANKLIN AVE.

UNIVERSITY AVE.

GRAND AVE.

INGERSOLL AVE.

FOREST AVE.

.EVADNARG .TSTSUCOL ..TSTUNLAW.TSYRREBLUM

.EVATRUOC

YAW

AUQUASOEK532-ETATSRETNI

E. EUCLID AVE.

GUTHRIE AVE.

E. UNIVERSITY AVE.

E. GRAND AVE.

DEAN AVE.

SCOTT AVE.

E. HULL AVE.

WASHINGTON AVE.COLLEGE AVE.

UNIVERSITY AVE.

.D

RY

AH

ELR

EM

.T

SH

T5 5

.T

SH

T84

.T

ST

S1 4

.T

SH

T 03

.Y

WK

PG

NIK .L .

M.

TS

HT91

.E

VA

HT6

.E

VA

DN 2

.T

SH

T9.E

.T

SH

T41.E

.T

SH

T 92.E

53 2-

ET

AT

SR

ET

NI

.T

SH

T6 5

.D

VLB

KLO

P

.T

SD

N24

.T

ST

S13

.T

SD

R 3 6

KINGMAN BLVD.

.E

VA

RE

VA

EB

.D

RR

EV

AE

BR

EW

OL

.R

DR

UEL

F

.T

SH

T9W

S

.TS

HT5

WS

.TSSENIOMSED .EVADNARG.E .TSTSUCOL.E .TSTUNLAW.E

.E

VA

HT6.

E

.T

SH

T41.

E

E. AURORA AVE.

REVIRSENIOMSED

REVIRNOOCCAR

GRAY'S LAKE

KEE

RC

TU

NLA

W

SE

NIO

MS

ED

REVIR

GLENDALECEMETERY

WAVELAND PARK& GOLF COURSE

WOODLANDCEMETERY

GREENWOODPARK

ASHWORTHPARK

SECTAYLOR

STADIUM

STATECAPITOL

DES MOINESWATERWORKS

BIRDLANDPARK

UNIONPARK

DRAKEUNIVERSITY

[ L O C A T I O N O F D O U B L E H O U S E S I N D E S M O I N E S ]

BASE MAP PROVIDED BY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, CITY OF DES MOINES

The following section lists all of the extant double houses in Des Moines by architecturalstyle. Vernacular forms and post-World War II double house types follow the high stylecategories.

ITALIANATE

Address Year, ca.1243 7th St. 1880733-735 19th St* 1888913-915 Walker St. 18891144-1146 E. 9th St. 18921100-1102 Walker St. 1892840-842 16th St. 1893750-752 16th St.* 1899808-810 Des Moines St. 1900900-902 Lyon St. 19001917 Pleasant St. 19001913-1915 Pleasant St.* 19001101-1103 Walker St. 1900905-907 Walker St. 19001253-1255 E. 9th St. 19002921-2923 Brattleboro Ave. 1900674-676 19th St.* 1905618-620 16th St. 19052021-2023 University Ave. 1905612-614 16th St. 19071909-1911 Pleasant 19081309-1311 E. 12th St. 19101227-1229 E. 12th St. 19101132 18th St. 19101220-1222 Walker St. 1910


[ D O U B L E H O U S E A R C H I T E C T U R E ( T Y P O L O G Y ) ]

QUEEN ANNE

Address Year, ca.649-651 20th St. 1883727-729 19th St.* 18901633-1637 E. Walnut St. 18901013-1015 E 7th St. 18911533-1535 E. Grand Ave. 1893694-696 19th St. 1895844-846 16th St. 18981621-1623 E. 9th St. 19001020-1022 25th St 1901726-728 20th St. 1902612 36th St. 19101035-1037 E 7th St. 1910517 Franklin Ave. 1910

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:J

OH

NZ

ELL

ER

2004

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:J

OH

NZ

ELL

ER

2004

*These locations are depicted in this publication.

NEO-CLASSICAL

Address Year, ca.1700-1702 6th Ave* 19021033-1035 Pennsylvania Ave. 19081416-1418 6th Ave. 1913

DUTCH COLONIAL REVIVAL

Address Year, ca.1212-1214 W. 48th 19191300 E. 12th St. 1920618 28th St.* 19241222-1224 W. 47th* 19241729-1731 8th St. 19251605 30th St. 1925714-718 Jefferson Ave. 1925

COLONIAL REVIVAL

Address Year, ca.2615-2617 Kingman Blvd 19084016-4020 Ingersoll Ave. 1909622 38th St. 19105127-5129 Grand Ave. 19141606 23rd St. 19151011 42nd St. 19153419 University 1916525-527 Polk Blvd* 19163434-3436 University Ave. 19162502-2504 High St. 19171907 6th Ave. 19202800 High St. 19212806 High St. 19212900 High St. 19222906 High St. 1922560 29th St. 19221065 42nd St. 19231010-1012 Polk Blvd. 19231016-1018 Polk Blvd. 19231022-1024 Polk Blvd. 19231028-1030 Polk Blvd. 1923619-621 49th St. 19242712-2714 Kingman Blvd. 19241105 Garden Ave. 19241340 41st St. 19252806 Woodland Ave. 1927690 32nd St. 19271627 Beaver Ave. 1928

TUDOR REVIVAL

Address Year, ca.3509-3511 Grand Ave. 19005217-5219 Shriver Ave. 19195135-5137 Shriver Ave.* 1919614 28th St. 19242518 Kenway Drive 19261145 46th St. 19274201 Urbandale Ave.* 19284717-4719 Pleasant St. 19302827 43rd St. 19302823 43rd St. 19302817 43rd St. 19301092-1094 28th St. 19313018 Kingman Blvd. 1932

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Address Year, ca.1453-1455 6th Ave. 19131903-1905 6th Ave.* 1913


PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:J

OH

NZ

ELL

ER

2004

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:C

AM

ILLA

DE

IBE

R

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:J

OH

NZ

ELL

ER

2004

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:J

OH

NZ

ELL

ER

2004

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:C

AM

ILLA

DE

IBE

R

PRAIRIE/FOURSQUARE

Address Year, ca.1128 10th St. 19001525-1527 Des Moines St. 19021518-1520 Des Moines St. 19102507-2509 School St. 1910218 Franklin Ave. 19112006-2008 E. 12th 19131305-1307 6th Ave. 19152804 & 28041/2 Cottage Grove Ave. 19153020-3024 Rutland Ave. 19151016 25th St. 1915721-723 20th St.* 19201600-1602 E. Walnut St. 19201526 Des Moines St. 19203600 Iola Ave. 19231091-1093 44th St. 19241405 22nd St. 1924945 37th St. 19241527-1529 Forest Ave. 19244400 University Ave. 19242215-2217 Drake Park Ave. 19253202-3204 Pleasant St. 1927906 39th St. 19273819-3821 W. University Ave. 19274232 Urbandale Ave. 19274236 Urbandale Ave. 1927521 Polk Blvd. 1928621 Ovid Ave. 1929627 Ovid Ave. 19293501 University Ave. 19292601-2603 E. Walnut St. 1930

VERNACULAR

Address Year, ca.1437-1439 11th St 19061420-1422 8th St 19141603-1605 8th St 19131517-1519 23rd St. 19201113 24th St. 18891818-1820 Pleasant St. 19271541-1543 Des Moines St. 19001440-1442 W. 19th St. 19211416-1418 8th St. 19081301-1303 E. 12th St. 19001000-1002 Osceola Ave. 19171717-1719 S. Union St. 1875713-715 20th St. 1901

POST WORLD WAR II TYPESPyramidal Two-Story

Address Year, ca.618-620 45th St. 19483325-3327 1st St. 1949235-237 42nd St. 1949805-807 31st St. 1949801-803 31st St. 1949

Side Gable, Two-Story

Address Year, ca.1123 38th St. 1949680 Polk Blvd. 1949

Side Gable, One-Story

Address Year, ca.1717-1719 9th St. 19472626-2628 W. 38th St. 19473515-3517 Douglas Ave. 19482611 E. 14th St. 1948699 Polk Blvd. 19482245 Logan Ave. 19493816-3822 Lincoln Place Drive 19492300 Dean Ave. 19492504 56th St. 19492516-2518 56th St. 19492901 E. Walnut St. 19491001-1003 28th St. 19504915 Urbandale Ave. 19503821 10th St. 19502009 16th St. 19502015 16th St. 19502220 38th St. 19503830-3832 34th St. 1950


PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:J

OH

NZ

ELL

ER

2004

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:J

OH

NZ

ELL

ER

2004


POST WORLD WAR II TYPES (Cont.)Pyramidal One-Story

Address Year, ca.2309 37th St. 19462222 32nd St. 19462221 34th St. 19465824 Grand Ave. 19462602 38th St. 19462548-2550 W. 34th St. 19462616-2618 W. 34th St. 19463101-3103 Victoria Drive 19472620-2624 W. 40th Street Place 19472101-2103 W. 32nd St. 19472108-2110 W. 30th St. 19474508-4510 Franklin Ave. 19472105-2107 W. 32nd St.* 19472602-2604 W. 40th Street Place 19481510-1512 W. 29th St. 19481805 45th St. 19481505-1507 W. 29th St. 19483102-3103 Francis Ave. 19481501-1503 W. 29th St. 19482510 Raymond Drive 19483324 52nd St. 19482615-2617 Terrace Road 1949

667 32nd St. 1949932 29th St. 19494925-4927 Woodland Ave. 19493106-3108 Kingman Blvd. 19492535-2537 Forest Drive 19492605-2607 Forest Drive 19492531-2533 Forest Drive 1949231 58th St. 1949576-578 SW 42nd St. 19494931-4933 Woodland Ave. 19492702-2704 53rd Street 19491235 62nd St. 19491012-1014 31st St. 19493100-3102 Kingman Blvd. 19492601-2603 Forest Drive 19491724 55th St. 19502105 52nd St. 19502004 53rd St. 19501916 53rd St. 19503704 38th St. 19501549 34th St. 19501541 34th St. 19502810-2812 Woodland Ave. 19502826-2828 Woodland Ave. 19502822-2824 Woodland Ave. 1950235-237 Park Place 1951234-236 Park Place 1951

Flat Roof, Two-Story

Address Year, ca.714-716 Hickman 19483909-3911 W. University Ave. 19491000-1015 Kingman Circle 1951


Highway construction and commercial redevelop-ment over the last half of the 20th century haveresulted in the loss of double houses throughoutDes Moines. In 2003, the Iowa Department ofTransportation (IADOT) requested the documen-tation of a double house at 900 Lyon Street as itwas in close proximity to construction activitiesalong I-235. In consultation with the Iowa StateHistoric Preservation Office and Federal HighwayAdministration, the IADOT sponsored the publi-cation of this booklet in partial mitigation of theimpact to the double house and to chronicle thehistory of this important Des Moines resource.

More than 230 remain standing, however,scattered throughout the city and its suburbs.Although compared with other cities relativelyfew double houses were built in the city, they pro-vided investment opportunities to nineteenth-century entrepreneurs, rental housing for membersof the middle class white collar work force, andalternative living spaces for widows or couplesseeking to avoid the cost and upkeep of a singlefamily residence. Built in a variety of styles, thedouble house type contributes to the diversity ofmany of Des Moines’ neighborhoods.

[ C O N C L U S I O N ]

PH

OTO

CR

ED

IT:C

AM

ILLA

DE

IBE

R



Several major sources were consulted for thispublication. John Zeller’s Double Houses andRow Houses: Affordable Housing in the 1994 DesMoines Community Preservation Plan served as a starting point for the research into double househistory and architecture. The Polk CountyAssessors website, www.assess.co.polk.ia.us/index.html, proved invaluable in searching foradditional double houses in the city. ThreeMultiple Property Documentation (MPD) forms-Suburban Developments In Des Moines Betweenthe World Wars; Toward a Greater Des Moines:Development and Early Suburbanization; andBuilding A City of Homes: 1900-1955-provided awealth of background information into the historyof residential and suburban development in thecity. James Jacobsen’s report, Building A City ofHomes, was particularly useful as it has an exten-sive listing of twentieth-century developers.Other resources that may be of interest are listed below by topic.

Architectural Plan BooksAladdin Company1995 Aladdin “Built in a Day” House Catalog,1917. Dover Publications, Inc., New York City.

American Face Brick Association1920 Two Apartment and Double House Plans in

Face Brick. N.p, Chicago. [ColumbiaUniversity Library].

Comstock, William T.1908 Two Family and Twin Houses. William T.

Comstock, New York.

Lindstrom, John W.1923 Duplex and Apartment Houses. J.W.

Linstrom, Minneapolis.

National Fire Proofing Company1914 The Natco Double House, Semi-detached;

Attractive, Economical, Durable, Fireproof.Boston, Rogers, and Manson Company,Pittsburgh.

Palliser, Palliser and Company1990 American Victorian Cottage Homes [1878].

Dover Publications, Inc., New York City.

Radford, William A.1909 Radford’s Stores and Flat Buildings. Radford

Architectural Company, Chicago.

Ray H. Bennett Lumber Company, Inc.1993 Bennett’s Small House Catalog, 1920. Dover

Publications, Inc., New York City.

Sears, Roebuck and Company1991 Small Houses of the Twenties: The Sears,

Roebuck 1926 House Catalog. Athenaeumof Philadelphia and Dover Publications,New York City.

Sloan, Samuel1861 Sloan’s Homestead Architecture. J. B.

Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia.

Stevenson, Katherine Cole and H. Ward Jandl1986 Houses By Mail: A Guide to Houses from

Sears, Roebuck and Company. John Wiley& Sons, Inc., New York City.

Des Moines Housing HistoryIowa State Planning Board1935 Report on Housing: Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa

State Planning Board, Committee onHealth and Housing, Des Moines.

Jacobsen, James Edward2002 Building A City of Homes: Des Moines,

Iowa 1900-1955. History Pays!, Des Moines.

Jacobsen, James Edward and John Patrick Zeller2002 Des Moines’ First “West End” and Its

Transition From Residential Neighborhood toAuto Row. History Pays!, Des Moines.

Long, Barbara Beving1989 Suburban Developments in Des Moines

Between the World Wars, 1918-1941. FourMile Research Company, Des Moines.

Page, William C. and Joanne R. Walroth1995 Towards a Greater Des Moines:

Development and Early Suburbanization,1880-1920. River Bend NeighborhoodAssociation, Des Moines.

ArticlesAnonymous1888 A Double House. Manufacturer and Builder

20(4):93.

Gillespie, Harriet Sisson1919 What the War Did for the Two-Family

House. House Beautiful 46(3):160-162.

Double Houses in Des MoinesNational Register of Historic Places Nominationsfor F.E. Haley Double House, Harriet H. SweetDouble House, Susie P. Turner Double House,Walter M. Bartlett Double House, and C. H.Baker Double House. On file at the State HistoricPreservation Office, State Historical Society ofIowa, 600 E. Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa.

[ B I B L I O G R A P H I C R E S O U R C E S ]

1 Harriet Sisson Gillespie, “What the War Did for the Two-FamilyHouse,” House Beautiful, Sept. 1919, 160.

2 U.S. Census Office, U.S. Census Reports: Volume II: Population,(Washington: U.S. Census Office, 1902), 617. U.S. Bureau ofCensus, Fifteenth Census of the United States: Volume VI:Population, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1930), 72.

3 Iowa State Planning Board, Report on Housing: Des Moines,Iowa, (Des Moines: Committee on Health and Housing, 1935), p.15.

4 Anonymous, Facts About Des Moines, 2000, www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departments/AC/Information/ACdemographics.htm (14Sept. 2004).

5 In 1920, Des Moines was listed in the federal census as leader inpercentage of home ownership-51%. It is unclear exactly whenthe phrase, “City of Homes” began to be used though Des Moinesrealtor, J.C. Ferguson, used the catch phrase in a large advertise-ment in the June 29, 1930 issue of the Des Moines Register.

6 Iowa State Register, 21 August 1877, p. 1.7 Iowa State Leader, 15 February 1882, p. 1.8 Iowa State Register, 20 February 1883, p. 3.9 Iowa State Leader, 21 April 1882, p. 1.10 Iowa State Register, 2 September 1882, p. 2.11 Studies by Janice Rutherford cited in Building A City of Homes:

Des Moines, Iowa 1900-1955. James E. Jacobsen, p. 146-148.12 Ethnic settlement areas were taken from the 1995 Des Moines

Community Preservation Plan. Not all ethnic settlements definedin that report have a direct correlation with concentrations ofdouble houses.

13 William C. Page and Joanne R. Walroth, Towards a Greater DesMoines: Development and Early Suburbanization, ca. 1880-ca.1920, (1995: River Bend Neighborhood Association, DesMoines), E., 21.

14 Des Moines Register, 23 September 1928, Commercial Section, p.1, c. 1.

15 Des Moines Register, 23 September, 1928, Commercial Section,p.1, c.1.

16 Des Moines Register, 22 September 1929, p. 14-X.17 James E. Jacobsen, Building A City of Homes: Des Moines, Iowa

1900-1955, (2002: History Pays!, Des Moines), 70.18 Barbara Beving Long, Suburban Developments in Des Moines

Between the World Wars, 1918-1941, (1989: Four Mile ResearchCompany, Des Moines), E. 7.

19 James E. Jacobsen, Building A City of Homes: Des Moines, Iowa1900-1955, (2002: History Pays!, Des Moines), 73.

20 Des Moines Register, 28 January 1945, p. 8-X.21 Des Moines Register, 13 October 1946, p. 4-X.22 Des Moines Register, 29 December 1949, Advertisement Section.

[c1] Illustration of Youngermans Double House

[c2] Cite Zeller’s newspaper note collection

leading double liveshouse catalog(1920); and aladdin homes (1917). sears, roebuck, and company,who...

Documents