Royal Neighbors of America National Home Historic District

Royal Neighbors of America
National Home Historic District
Location 4760 Rockingham Rd.
Davenport, Iowa
Coordinates 41°30′15″N 90°38′48″W / 41.50417°N 90.64667°W / 41.50417; -90.64667Coordinates: 41°30′15″N 90°38′48″W / 41.50417°N 90.64667°W / 41.50417; -90.64667
Area 77 acres (31 ha)
Built 1931
Architect Clausen, Kruse & Klein
Architectural style Georgian Revival
NRHP Reference # 15000294 [1]
Added to NRHP June 2, 2015

The Royal Neighbors of America National Home, also known as Grandview Terrace, is a historic district located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the west end of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

History

Memorial to deceased members

Founded in 1895, Royal Neighbors of America was the first fraternal benefit society that provided life insurance protection for women.[2] It is based across the river from Davenport in Rock Island, Illinois. In 1929 Royal Neighbors passed a resolution to establish a facility that would provide a home for mothers and other women in their organization who were in need of assistance. They bought 40 acres (16 ha) of land along Rockingham Road in Davenport's west end in February 1930.[2]

The Davenport architectural firm of Clausen, Kruse & Klein designed the facility in the Georgian Revival style. The building features a columned porch that extends across the front of the building and a living room with floor-to-ceiling windows and a fireplace. Five hundred people gathered for its dedication on July 18, 1931 as the Royal Neighbors National Home. It had space for 52 residents. Over the years the property grew to encompass 77 acres (31 ha).[2]

In order to live there the residents had to turn over their assets to the society and they were allowed to live at the home until they died. They also had to be of "good moral character, free from contagious or infections disease, unable by reason of age to provide for the necessities of life…"[2] In exchange, residents were assured they would be cared for without further cost for the rest of their lives.[3] The home's name was changed to Grandview Terrace in 1993. The facility increasingly faced an operations deficit, and regulatory demands to update the building were also mounting. In order to control costs, the policy by which members turned their assets over to the society to live at Grandview Terrace was changed in 1996 so that members could pay rent instead.

The Royal Neighbors membership decided that providing senior housing was not part of its core mission and they closed the home on October 1, 2004. The contents of the home were sold at auction.[3] The facility was sold to an investment group based in Baltimore, Maryland named Grandview Estates LLC. in 2006. At the time their plan was to turn the facility into a retirement community based on plans that were developed by Royal Neighbors.[4] As of 2015 the buildings are vacant and in a dilapidated condition.

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 4 John Willard (September 18, 2006). "Grandview Terrace was a royal residence". Quad-City Times. Davenport. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
  3. 1 2 Kay Luna (May 13, 2006). "Grandview Terrace empties, piece by piece, at auction". Quad-City Times. Davenport. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
  4. ↑ Kay Luna (August 15, 2006). "Royal Neighbors sells Grandview Terrace". Quad-City Times. Davenport. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
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