370 34th Street Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA, USA

Robert and Esther Armstrong House

The Robert and Esther Armstrong House, also known as Pleasant Hill, is a historic building located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. This is the last of two documented houses that regionalist artist Grant Wood designed in its entirety in the city. There are 14 documented houses that he designed, at least in part, between 1925 and 1933. He took on the work to help support himself and his mother. Like his artwork, his house designs evolved from more classical styles to the more simpler lines of vernacular forms. In addition, he used local materials to construct the house, including the exterior limestone quarried at Stone City for this house. In addition, Esther Armstrong, local builder Bruce McKay and Wood scoured the countryside looking for design ideas. They settled on two Pennsylvania-style fieldstone structures, from which Wood designed this home. He also served as interior decorator as well. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

National Register of Historic Places - Robert and Esther Armstrong House

Statement of Significance:

The Robert and Esther Armstrong House testifies to Grant Wood's considerable talents as an architectural designer and the impact of his Regionalist Credo on those designs. Although best recognized for his paintings, Wood had considerable interest in and talent for interior and exterior design, and the Armstrong House is one of many (fourteen are documented) such projects he undertook in Cedar Rapids and one of two residences in that city that he designed in their entirety. Wood ardently believed that art and architecture should reflect the past traditions and craftsmanship and native materials of an area. In designing this house and in directing its construction, he based its exterior and interior on early stone houses near Stone City, Waubeek, Viola, and Manchester and utilized locally quarried building stone in its construction. The property is significant under Criterion C as the work of a master designer.

Between 1925 and 1933, Grant Wood supported himself and his mother and managed to buy the painting supplies he needed by designing and decorating homes. The Armstrong home was the last of these, and it is the architectural manifestation of the regionalist philosophy for which Grant Wood became famous. Architecturally, Pleasant Hill is as regionalist as is "American Gothic," the painting which rocketed Wood to fame and is considered America's best-known painting.

In her book GRANT WOOD, THE REGIONALIST VISION, Wanda Corn writes, "The Armstrong home, the most original and distinctive house Wood ever designed, demonstrated his new commitment to local and regional history."

Wood's style of painting developed gradually. Early in his career, he was identified with an updated medieval style tied to the Arts and Crafts movement. Next came a period of neoclassical painting influenced by his study in Europe. Finally, his regionalist style evolved. As he explained: "To my great joy, I discovered that in the very commonplace in my native surroundings, were decorative adventures and that my only difficulty had been in taking them too much for granted."

In home decorating and design, Wood's development followed the same path. Many examples of Wood's neoclassical decorating can be found in Cedar Rapids. But slowly, he found true beauty in the sturdy, regionalist architecture with its clean, uncluttered lines.

It is easy to understand why Grant Wood was so enthusiastic when the Armstrong’s approached him about designing a home featuring "Iowa architecture." He had worked as a decorator at Armstrong's store and knew Robert and Esther well. With his good friend, builder/contractor Bruce McKay, this was an opportunity to translate his philosophy of regionalism into Thus began the search for the architectural elements which Wood wanted to use in the design of the house. Esther Armstrong, McKay, and Wood combed the countryside, travelling many dusty side roads, centering their search in the area of Waubeek, Stone City and along the old Ridge Road on the way to Anamosa. Eventually, two houses provided most of the details for the design of the Armstrong house. They were the Eugene Doe house built in 1860 by Bennefield Wertman, a Pennsylvania native who had learned the mason's trade in the East, and the old Perkins tavern, built in 1855 by an unknown builder. Both were stone houses resembling early Pennsylvania fieldstone houses, understandable since their pioneer builders wanted their new homes to resemble the houses back east.

From the Doe home came the entrance recessed into the thick stone wall, the size of the window panes, and the design of the old slatted shutters. From Perkins Tavern came the designs for interior doors, cabinets, stair railing, fireplace, hardware and moldings.

Among the regionalist features Grant Wood included in designing Pleasant Hill are:
1. Native stone. The exterior of the house is made from stone quarried at Stone City, transported to Cedar Rapids by boxcar, and hand-hewn by two 80-year-old skilled stonemasons chosen by Grant Wood. Large lintels which weighed between one and two tons each were hoisted into place by derricks. Large stones were also used at the front gate to protect the entrance gate which Wood designed. He also designed the garden seat from three large pieces of stone and used stone for the garden wall. Two boxcars of stone were required for the house and one boxcar for the garden wall.
2. Board-and-batten interior walls. Many walls, both upstairs and down, are board-and-batten construction, typically midwestern according to Grant Wood. Batten boards are fastened over the seams of wider boards.
3. Plaster work. Grant Wood designed and made the mold for the unusual plaster work which surrounds the ceiling light fixtures. Very different than his earlier ornate plaster work, this simple design was made to resemble the plaster work surrounding early kerosene pull lamps. He also designed the crown molding.

4- Interior woodwork. Grant Wood designed the black-walnut front staircase based on one at the Perkins Tavern. He also designed the cupboards, doors and baseboards, using native pine, birch and walnut.
5. Bay window. Because pioneer homes often included bay windows for growing plants during the long, dreary winters, Grant Wood designed one for Pleasant Hill. Located in the dining room, the window looks across to the garden seat. He also designed a special plant shelf for the window with upside-down terra cotta tiles forming a saucer to hold spilled water.
6. Brussels carpet. On graph paper, Grant Wood designed the original carpet. Specially woven in Philadelphia, it combined several shades of green with red threads to add sparkle. Although it had to be replaced some years ago, Esther Armstrong has samples of it.
7. Furniture. Grant Wood designed the two love seats which flank the fireplace in the living room. They are the same design he used in designing his Pullman chair but elongated to form short sofas. Grant Wood also assisted Esther Armstrong in her search for fine regional antiques. Of special note are the yoke-back chairs which Esther found. Grant Wood supervised their restoration with the original stenciled designs.
8. Hardware. Hardware throughout the house was either selected or designed by Wood. Antique steeple iron hinges and large white porcelain knobs were used throughout. Grant Wood designed the two fireplace screens and added iron hooks to hold Christmas stockings above the library fireplace.
9. Porch. Patterned after an old porch which he admired; Grant Wood designed the rear porch with octagonal pillars supporting scalloped arches.
10. Arbor. Wood insisted that there should be an arbor near the kitchen door as did many midwestern pioneer homes.
11. Front gate. The wooden gate at the entrance to the property on 34th Street was designed by Grant Wood as an appropriate gate for his concept of regionalism.

The Armstrong house endures today, charming and timeless, its design a credit to Grant Wood's abilities. It is also a testament to the Armstrong family which has played such an important part in the history of Cedar Rapids.

The maternal grandfather of Robert Armstrong, William Cooper, with his wife and two children, came to Cedar Rapids in 1861 in a covered wagon. He was fleeing from LaCrosse, Wis., where his partner had been scalped by Indians. It is probable that he arrived via the old territorial road which once ran through the Armstrong's property. The site of this old road, which ran from Prairie du Chien to the territorial capitol in Iowa City, appears in the original survey made in 1841 and is recorded in the Library of Congress. William Cooper founded the Union Mills where he made flour, grist and cattle feed.

Armstrong's store, one of Iowa's largest department stores, was founded by Robert Armstrong's father, Samuel G., in 1890 with five employees.

It is impossible to measure all that Robert and Esther Armstrong have contributed to the city of Cedar Rapids. Both have been active and generous in civic, educational and church affairs. Through Robert Armstrong's guidance, Armstrong's Department store has been the anchor in the downtown area. Through his steadfast efforts, the downtown has remained healthy and viable.

The family has given much to Cedar Rapids — including the wisdom to recognize the talents of Grant Wood and to use his abilities in the designing and construction of their home.