Stockman House
The Stockman House is a variation on a 1907 design published in the Ladies’ Home Journal as “a Fireproof House for $5,000.” The subtle geometry of Wright’s composition is emphasized by its sheltering eaves, window framing, and what he called “back-band trim,” dark wood used to wrap the corners of the main structure.
The building’s near perfect square footprint has an open floor plan with a verandah on one side and a large entry hall with a cantilevered eave on the other. The windows, in true Prairie style, are grouped in horizontal bands, while the design’s original flat roof has been replaced by a hipped version. As one of only two Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in Mason City, the local community rallied in 1989 when it was threatened with demolition—relocating it to its current site, restoring it, and reopening it as a museum. The other Wright building in the city is the Historic Park Inn Hotel (formerly the City National Bank and Park Inn Hotel).
