Salisbury House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the manor in Iowa. For the restaurant chain, see Salisbury House (Canada). For the London home of the earls of Salisbury, see Cecil House.
Salisbury House is the Tudor, Gothic and Carolean style manorial home of cosmetic magnate Carl Weeks completed in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, in 1928 for over $3 million. Salisbury House is modeled after the King's House in Salisbury, England [1] and has over 42 rooms and measures just over 22,000 square feet.
Salisbury House is now owned by the Salisbury House Foundation, acquired from the Iowa State Education Association in 1999 and is open to the public for tours, private parties and public events. It is also on the List of Registered Historic Places in Iowa and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Contents |
[edit] Timeline
- 1923: Constructed and furnished at a cost of $3 million
- 1934: Carl and Edith Weeks gift Salisbury House to Drake University
- 1954: Iowa State Education Association purchased from Drake University to use as their offices
- 1993: Foundation formed and purchased estate and contents to restore and preserve
- 1998: Foundation raised $13.4 million to purchase and begin restoration, began endowment
- 2004: Began $7.5 million campaign to complete Master Plan
[edit] Salisbury House Foundation
Executive Director: Scott Brunscheen
As a public museum and cultural center, Salisbury House serves Iowans through its use as an educational and cultural resource serving diverse populations as a place of learning and culture and a destination for tourists.
The mission of Salisbury House Foundation is to preserve, interpret and share the international significance of Salisbury House and its collections as a historic house museum for the educational and cultural benefit and enjoyment of the public.
[edit] Historic artifacts
The Weeks family who built the Salisbury House wanted the house to become a museum when they moved out, and collected many historic artifacts from around the world, to store in the house. To date there are around 10,000 historic artifacts including a library full of rare first edition books, including first edition Ernest Hemingway books with notes from Hemingway himself inside. The house also contains many 16th century tapestries, paintings, historic architecture and a collection of historic documents signed by the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and John Hancock.
