Cultural icons are plentiful in Mason City's history. The famous architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959) was not a native North Iowan, but he left his mark during a stay in Mason City in the early 1900's. Wright was commissioned to design a new hotel and bank building for the city by businessmen James Markley and James Blythe. Markley's neighbor, Dr. G.C. Stockman, persuaded Wright to design a residential home for his family. The home was finished in 1908 and was the first and only Prairie School-style house designed by Wright in Iowa. Wright left Iowa in 1910, just as construction of the Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank was about to begin. The Park Inn is Wright's only remaining hotel; it became the prototype for the world-famous Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. The City National Bank is widely considered the better of two banks Wright designed.

In 1912, Wright's students designed homes in the Rock Crest/Rock Glen development, which is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the largest collection of Prairie School architecture unified by one setting.

For more information about Wright on the Park
and the Park Inn project visit:
http://www.wrightonthepark.org

For more information about Frank Lloyd Wright visit:
http://www.wrightiniowa.com.