James C. Blythe House
431 First Street SE
Mason City, Iowa 50401-3930

Walter Burley Griffin, 1913

This is the third Rock Glen house designed by Griffin, and the second of three houses commissioned by Blythe, the principal developer of Rock Glen. Its walls are clay tile block covered with limestone below and stucco above, while the floors, stairs and roof are reinforced concrete. Its design recalls Griffin’s Tempel House (known as "Solid Rock") in Winnetka, Illinois, before that latter building’s unfortunate alterations.

This last photograph supplied courtesy of Thomas Shearer.

References
• Gebhard, David, and Mansheim, Gerald: Buildings of Iowa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 416.
• McCoy, Robert E. Mason City Walking Tour Guide. Mason City: River City Society for Historic Preservation, 2003, p. 58.
• Wilson, Richard Guy, and Robinson, Sidney K. The Prairie School in Iowa. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1977, p. 80-81.