Historic Park Inn Hotel

The Historic Park Inn Hotel is the last remaining hotel designed by famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the world. Built in 1910, it is an excellent example of Prairie School architecture and actually consists of two buildings, one of which was originally a bank. The hotel building is located on the west side and the former bank is on the east side (the bank building now has additional hotel guest rooms and the former bank lobby is used as a ballroom). The Park Inn features typical elements of the Prairie School architecture including long horizontal lines and wide overhanging eaves. Visitors can take guided tours of the hotel, which is operated by a non-profit organization called Wright on the Park (WOTP).

Two local attorneys—James Blythe and J.E.E. Markley—led the effort to build the hotel and bank. A number of factors compelled them to take on the project. They were on the board of directors of the City National Bank, which, at the time, wanted a new building. Blythe and Markley also recognized that the city, which was in the midst of a period of tremendous growth in the early 1900s, needed a hotel. They wanted a new location for their law firm as well. The site where the hotel now stands was occupied by buildings considered to be eyesores and the project was a good opportunity to demolish them.

Blythe and Markley hired Wright on the recommendation of Markley's two daughters, who attended a Wright-designed school in Spring Green, Wisconsin (Wright's former home, studio and architecture school, Taliesin, is also located there). Wright visited in Mason City around 1906 or 1907 and started making plans for the hotel and bank. While the buildings were under construction, Wright eloped to Europe with the wife of a former client and remained there for a year. As a result, he did not oversee the construction of the buildings. Instead, he delegated that task to one of his associates, William Drummond. The buildings were completed in 1910.

In the 1920s, Iowa farmers were hit hard by decreasing crop prices. As a result, City National Bank and other Iowa banks went into bankruptcy. City National was sold and the building was converted into retail and office space. The hotel began to decline after a competitor, the Hanford Hotel, was built in the mid-1920s. The Park Inn continued to operate but eventually became a low-end apartment building and then was abandoned.

WOTP was established in 2005 to preserve, restore and maintain the hotel. It bought the bank building in 2007. Renovation work on the buildings continued until 2011 when the hotel reopened. Both buildings were added separately to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and both are contributing properties of the Mason City Downtown Historic District.

Crosman, John. M. "City National Bank." National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. September 14, 1972. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/8206b84d-42f9-4dff-955e-b4bd772cf846.

Crosman, John. M. "Park Inn Hotel." National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. September 14, 1972. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/1775179e-45e7-4309-b4b1-581c64aff9dd.

"Hotel History." Wright on the Park. Accessed September 28, 2021. https://wrightonthepark.org/about-us/hotel-history.