Front of the Park Inn Hotel (right) and side of the City
People from beyond Iowa tend to find it remarkable that Mason City Iowa has such a treasure trove of Prairie Style homes – by architects including Frank Lloyd Wright. But Conde Nast travel mag is in the know: It recently listed Mason City among the top 15 cities in the world of noteworthy architectural history, according to Wright on the Park, a Mason City nonprofit instrumental in restoring and reopening The Park Inn Hotel, the last remaining hotel designed by Wright. The hotel plus the Wright-designed Stockman House (both of which offer public tours) and the Rock Crest-Rock Glen residential area, where you can take a self-guided tour of the area’s historic homes including many Prairie Style homes, no doubt won Mason City the same destination nod as cities including Barcelona (presumably for Gaudi!) and Tel Aviv. Word has it the restaurant has opened at the hotel (it wasn’t opened yet when I visited about a year ago.)
TakeBetsywithyou 