2:30–4 p.m.
Lawson Lecture Hall, Room 152, Bucksbaum Center for the Arts
A presentation for adults
About the Presentation
The Benjamin J. and Mabel T. Ricker House was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin in 1911 and completed in 1912. It was the first of seven houses the Griffins designed for Iowa clients, but just as Ricker House was completed, Griffin won the international competition to design a new capital for Australia. Very soon thereafter the Griffins relocated down under where Walter enjoyed a very successful practice (even if Canberra did not finally reflect all his design). Learn about the family that built this house and the man who designed one of Grinnell's prominent homes.
About the Presenter
Dan Kaiser began teaching Russian and European history at Grinnell College in 1979, and retired in 2013. After a career centered on places far away, he is using retirement to learn more about places close at hand. In 2013-14 he hosted a blog devoted to the neighborhood around Walter Burley Griffin's Ricker House in Grinnell. At present he hosts a blog devoted to "Grinnell Stories," and occasionally lectures on Grinnell buildings and history. He is a member of the board of the Grinnell Historical Museum and a fan of the Prairie school architects.