Joshua G. Melson House
56 River Heights Drive
Mason City, Iowa 50401-4032

Walter Burley Griffin, 1914

Joshua Melson was a prominent Mason City builder, developer and self-styled architect. He, together with James Blythe, J.E.E. Markley and W.J. Holahan, were responsible for developing Rock Glen and Rock Crest, and for engaging Walter Burley Griffin to lay out the development and design a number of its houses.

The house is built not only of stone but reinforced concrete, which is frankly displayed around windows and garage doors.

Many interior alterations were made by a previous owner, including the loss of much of the art glass, but a subsequent owner carried out a sympathetic restoration in 1997.

References
• Gebhard, David, and Mansheim, Gerald: Buildings of Iowa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 417-18.
• McCoy, Robert E. Mason City Walking Tour Guide. Mason City: River City Society for Historic Preservation, 2003, p. 27.
• Wilson, Richard Guy, and Robinson, Sidney K. The Prairie School in Iowa. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1977, p. 90-91.