BEYER HOUSE

This house was built by Professor S.W. Beyer on a site north of the Marston Cottage. It stood at a point about at the center of the court formed by the southern two east wings of today’s Helser Hall.

In 1910 a request was made by Beyer to erect a barn near his house. The question was “referred to Supt. Sloss with power to grant such permission if in his judgment deemed advisable.”¹ It seems doubtful that the barn was built because there is no subsequent reference to it and it does not appear on a 1915 map.

The College purchased the house from Professor Beyer in 1924. It was the last privately owned house on the campus. It was purchased for $9,000 and title transferred January 1, 1925.²

In 1925 the house was moved to a location at a point where today’s driveway to the west dock of Spedding Hall is located. It was then used as a Nurses’ Home and later, from 1930-48 served as the Child Nursery Annex.

A contract to raze and remove the house was entered into on December 15, 1948, with the American Lumber and Wrecking Company, Des Moines.³