The Midwestern prairies that stretched for as far as the eye could see were fertile ground, both figuratively and literally, for Frank Lloyd Wright. The world-renowned architect—a Wisconsin native who spent much of his life in Chicago—drew inspiration from the land and from it sprung his famous Prairie School of design.

From 1895 to 1910, mid-America’s flat terrain enthused Wright to create dozens of residences—and a handful of commercial buildings as well—that emphasized straight, horizontal construction reminiscent of the land.

More than 100 years later, many of the homes remain, but only two of the non-residential buildings Wright designed in his Prairie style—Unity Temple in suburban Chicago and the Park Inn hotel in Mason City, IA—are still standing. At one point, there were five hotels built from Wright’s Prairie plans.

Mason City, a town of 28,000 off I-35 halfway between Minneapolis and Des Moines, has more than its share of structures by Wright and his followers. Yet it’s the old hotel—which stood in disrepair for years, home only to flocks of messy pigeons—that’s been getting the most attention recently.

Following a long and exhaustive restoration that saw $20 million—much of that donated by locals—pumped into the property, it reopened in last August as the Historic Park Inn, without a doubt the classiest hotel in a community that, previously, had been served only by mid-range chain properties, including a Clarion, Country Inn & Suites and Quality Inn.

“Luxury-wise, I’d say we’re right up there,” says Tracy Knebel, the hotel’s general manager. She left a management position at the town’s Clarion Hotel to join the new, 27-room property in May.

“We’ve been doing very well with the business community,” she says, pointing to an 85% occupancy rate during the busy, mid-week period.

“A lot of the businesses in town have international clients or employees,” she continues. “They want to give their guests, I guess I can brag, a nicer hotel to stay at.”

Four-star in quality, but lacking amenities such as a swimming pool, the Historic Park Inn is lovingly restored to appear much as it did when it first opened in 1910. However, the rooms are now much larger than the original 10-by-10-feet, and they all have private bathrooms, a feature that was almost unheard-of when Wright drafted his original plans.

“We had a narrow focus. And our focus was coming up with a viable hotel that had rooms that would be attractive and that would restore the public spaces,” explains Dr. Robert McCoy, the retired orthopedic surgeon who spearheaded the campaign to save the historic hotel and the adjoining former bank, also designed by Wright.

“[The hotel and bank buildings] probably would’ve succumbed in another 10 years,” he adds. “There were a lot of pigeons inhabiting [the structures]. They had leaky roofs that were not being adequately cared for. It was really in disreputable condition.”

McCoy’s organization, Wright on the Park, acquired the languishing downtown hotel from city fathers for $1 after other groups had tried, and failed, to breathe new life into the place.

“It took us 18 months to get 501(c)(3) non-profit status,” he says. “It really was a daunting thing, because we couldn’t start our fundraising before then. But we started trying to study what makes an historic hotel fail or succeed. We consulted with the Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa, which had had a multi-million-dollar restoration; a hotel in Redwing, Minnesota, that had brought about a renaissance in downtown Redwing; and the Hotel Winneshiek in Decorah, Iowa. So we learned a lot about the causes for [success and] failure and that helped us with our business plan.”

“We did marketing studies that told us, ‘If you expect to make it on tourism, you’ve got the wrong business plan. You’ve got to make it hospitable for the business traveler.’”

And so they did. The guestrooms feature the latest amenities—from high-tech lighting to a sophisticated heating and air conditioning system.

“We were stripping it down to the bare studs, so we had the perfect opportunity to have modern electronics,” McCoy says. “And we’re one of the first hotels in the country to use a European heating system. It was developed there because they have a lot of old buildings and they restore their buildings. They don’t tear them down.”

The public areas—from the lobby to the parlor rooms—contain carpeting and furniture with clean, straight lines reminiscent of Wright’s original style. The exterior, leaded glass windows are similarly themed, as are a set of doors behind the reception desk. They and the ceiling of the hotel’s former café feature elegant stained glass.

While it’s business travelers who account for the majority of guest nights, there’s another, unique group of clientele: the Wright geeks, or—more accurately—freaks.

“It’s sort of amazing there are so many architectural fans out there,” says GM Knebel. “We’ve been keeping a registration book at the concierge desk. So far, we’ve had people from 48 states and, I think, 22 countries come through the hotel, to either stay or just to visit and take a look. [They will tell us,] ‘I’m a Frank Lloyd Wright freak.’ They call themselves freak, or fan, and they like to tell you all the different Frank Lloyd Wright places they have been. They love to share what they have done.”

“[Overall] occupancy has been very good,” she adds. “We’re very surprised how busy we have been. I’d say we probably are averaging about 75%, and that’s with the slow times. It is very good for a hotel that’s only been around for a few months. It’s been amazing.”

The hotel opened with a lounge, but no restaurant. Drinks are served in a basement room that originally was a lounge exclusively for gentlemen. It’s now called the 1910 Bar & Billiards, and both sexes are, of course, welcome.

The Historic Park Inn plans to add a fine dining restaurant during the spring, which it expects will increase the property’s popularity with locals looking for a venue for weddings and other celebrations. The addition of the restaurant will also be an added incentive for businesses that might want to rent the hotel’s meeting rooms for small conferences. Rooms start at $100 on weeknights and $110 at the weekend.

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