River Bend Home Tour Features Two By Hallett
The 2008 River Bend Neighborhood Home Tour features six turn of the (twentieth) century homes by three notable architects.
The house at 1330 - 9th Street and its nearby neighbor at 1530 - 9th were both designed and built by George E. Hallett.
Born in Des Moines, George E. Hallett moved to Denver and worked his way up from carpenter to architect. Hallett moved back to Iowa to open his own architectural practice in Des Moines around 1890. Over the years Hallett sometimes worked independently, and sometimes in partnership with other architects, including Clinton C. Nourse (from 1892 to 1893), and, after 1898, Harry D. Rawson.
The prestige of Rawson’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his social connections in Iowa brought the partnership of Hallett & Rawson a variety of commissions. The two made a successful living in the growing “northern portion” of Des Moines, including the River Bend Neighborhood. Some of the partners’ bigger commissions are Union Station in Des Moines, Lodge halls and 4 Carnegie Libraries.
