Alice French House, house in Davenport, Iowa
The Alice French House is a two-story residential building built in 1906 that combines Queen Anne style with Colonial Revival elements in its design. It features a prominent front porch, tall narrow windows, and asymmetrical shapes typical of homes from that era, and sits on a corner lot in a quiet Davenport neighborhood near the Mississippi River.
The house was built in 1906 during a period of growth in Davenport and reflects the architectural preferences of the early 1900s. It was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its connection to local history and the life of writer Alice French.
The house bears the name of writer Alice French, who published stories under the pen name Octave Thanet and became one of Iowa's first authors to gain national recognition. Her literary work shaped Davenport's cultural identity and connected the city to a wider literary tradition of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The house is a private residence and cannot be entered, but its exterior can be easily viewed from the street. A walk through the quiet residential street offers a good view of the building and other historic structures nearby in the neighborhood.
Alice French drew inspiration from her life in Davenport to create the fictional town of Fairport in her stories, which reflected her hometown and the Mississippi River world she knew. Her most popular novel, The Man of the Hour published in 1905, embodied this connection between her real life and creative work.
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