832 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway (Cottage), Des Moines, Polk County, IA

Significance: Constructed in 1899 and located near the Sherman Hill Historic District, the architecture of this cottage is significant because it calls attention to a vernacular design influenced by Queen Anne taste. This cottage also illustrates one type of affordable housing being constructed in Des Moines during the boom years of the early Twentieth Century. The expectations of middle-class homeowners had risen in the city by this time, as is attested by the presence of the decorative woodwork on the first floor, a feature not found in comparable housing of an earlier generation. By the same token, the modest architecture of this cottage also shows how land use affected the quality of town lot improvements. In this instance, the presence of a nearby cemetery depressed the improvement of lots on its fringes, while lots located in neighboring Sherman Hill were more extensively upbuilt. Finally, this cottage is significant because it provides one example of a little documented property type in Des Moines the "house to rent." Originally constructed for David R. Ewing, lumber merchant of Des Moines, this cottage was built as an investment to provide for and profit from rental housing, in short supply in the city during the boom years of the 1880s and 1890s. As such, the building relates in function to its neighbor to the south, 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway (HABS IA-192).
Survey number: HABS IA-191