The historic John N. and Mary McQuilken House in La Porte City, Iowa

The John N. and Mary McQuilken House in La Porte City, Iowa.Photo byUser:Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The historic John N. and Mary McQuilken House is at 602 Commercial Street (also known as U.S. Highway 218) in La Porte City, Iowa. This house has also been referred to as the Emelia J. Schleeser House and the Joan E. Schreiber House. This house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 8, 1994.

The house is currently listed on Zillow (judicial foreclosure). Visit here to see some amazing photos. The kitchen and bathrooms have been remodeled. The woodwork appears to be original.

In his working life, John McQuilken (1854-1925) was a meat and poultry merchant and later an insurance salesman. John and Mary had no children.

The house was built between 1900 and 1901. The architect and builder are unknown. The architectural style is Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals. The foundation is stone and the walls are wood.

In about 1960, the upper floor was converted into an apartment. In the mid-1980s, this one-and-a-half-story house was renovated and returned to its original form as much as possible.

The interior of the house includes detailed woodwork and beveled glass windows. There is also a garage at the rear of the lot and it's newer. Several older homes in the neighborhood date anywhere from the 1870s to the 1930s.

The first floor includes a vestibule, parlor, bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. There are three bedrooms and a central hall on the second floor.

This house is important because of its architecture. The house has been well-preserved after all these decades. The garage and the fence are not part of the National Register listing.

The McQuilken House remained in the family until 1951. From that time up until it was nominated for the National Register, there was only one other family who owned the property.

John's wife, Mary Ann Brown McQuilken (1855-1941), continued to live in the house after John died until she died. She was 86. They didn't have children, so she willed the house to four relatives. They each owned the house for about a decade.

Emelia J. Schleeger purchased the home in 1951 from Mary's relatives. She lived in the house until she died in 1985. That was when her niece, Joan E. Schreiber, bought the house and she took on restoring the home.

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