Two historic homes on West Main Street in Marshalltown within one-half block of each other took dramatic and divergent paths toward preservation and demolition over a period of years.

The Historical Society of Marshall County (HSMC) began work in 2022 to place the Mowry-Irvine Mansion (MIM) at 503 W. Main St. on the coveted National Register of Historic Places, according to Mary Pfantz, HSMC treasurer and board member.

Conversely, due west of the MIM, demolition was taking place Tuesday on the “Queen of Hearts” or Newton Carmean mansion at 607 W. Main St.

Dorie Tammen, library assistant with HSMC which is headquartered in the historic MIM – stood in its front yard and watched a crew from Con-Struct, Inc. of Ames and Marshalltown unload two giant yellow excavators and drive them up and into the front of yard of the once-stately “Hearts” property in preparation for demolition.

The excavator took its first chunk out of the unique home’s eastside at noon, according to Tammen. Prior to the demolition, Con-Struct employees moved large sheets of plywood to protect neighboring properties. During demolition, passers-by parked their vehicles on West Main Street to watch and neighbors left their homes to observe. Some neighbors sat in lawn chairs and recorded the scene on recording devices as debris fell to the ground. During demolition, Con-Struct crew watered the Hearts building to contain dust as chunks of the roof and siding descended rapidly into a pile.

The Queen of Hearts was built in the early 1900s by Carmean, then a prominent buggy manufacturer and local businessmen. He hired a Chicago architect to design the house once declared by some publications as the “handsomest home in the city.”

However, over the decades, a series of owners allowed the once-regal property to fall into serious disrepair. Its trademark heart-shaped stained-glass windows and frames, which had earned its “Queen of Hearts” name among other unique features, had been removed in recent weeks.

In August, the city of Marshalltown condemned the property’s front porch as “dangerous and unsafe” according to the red condemnation notice placed on the porch. Current owner Todd Hollingworth of Marshalltown submitted a demolition permit to the city in August, according to Housing and Community Development director Deb Millizer, who told the T-R on Tuesday that Hollingworth himself paid for the demolition.

Hollingworth is also listed as owner of the neighboring property at 609 W. Main St., the uniquely historic and well-preserved Willard Mansion. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, according to a social media resource.

State Historical Preservation Office meeting

The MIM application, which must first be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office in Des Moines, is scheduled for review Oct. 10, according to Pfantz. The application will be presented to SHPO staff by Paula Mohr of Bentonsport Preservation, LLC, in Bentonsport.

HSMC hired Mohr in 2022 to help with the application, Pfantz said.

Pfantz volunteered a significant amount of time to assist Mohr prepare the application for review. Mohr and her office had extensive experience and success with previous applications to SHPO and the U.S. National Park Service, which will review SHPO’s comments and either approve or decline the application.

“This is a public meeting and anyone is welcome to attend,” said Mohr in an email recently to Pfantz.

“If approved by the NPS, HSMC will be eligible to apply for grants to assist in maintaining this historic structure and retain it as one of the premier properties in Marshalltown and on West Main Street,” Pfantz said.

The MIM is an Italianate-style home built in the 1870s. It currently houses artifacts unique to the home in addition to serving as HSMCs headquarters.

That organization has owned the home since 2018 as a result of a donation from Madelyn Mowry Irvine and Steven Irvine of Marshalltown. It was Madelyn’s childhood home.

It was also known as the Frederick and Mary Grumme house. The donation was extremely timely and beneficial to HSMC, since their museum and offices at 202 E. Church St. had been extensively damaged by the 2018 tornado. It was sold to a local contractor several years later.

For more information, contact the HSMC at 641-752-6664 or info@hsmcia.org.