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Iowa » Mississippi River—East » Mount Pleasant » Penn House

Penn House

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c. 1867. 408 N. Broadway

Three trends that occurred in the 1870s are exemplified in the design of the Penn house. The first of these was the increased use of details derived from the French Second Empire style, particularly the mansard roof. The second was the desire to emphasize the vertical, whether in interior space, in volumes, or in detailing. The third was the treatment of ornamental detail in a brittle, angular fashion. Many of the principal features of the Penn house are Italianate—the bracketed eaves, the angular bay windows, and the wood pillared porches with segmental arches. But these elements are here dominated by one single feature, a mansard roof with a concave surface broken by numerous dormers and chimneys.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
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Data

What's Nearby

Ambler House
Bereman House
Sargent House
The PEO Library
United States Post Office Building

Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "Penn House", [Mt Pleasant, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-ME321.

Print Source

Buildings of Iowa, David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 130-130.

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