Right in front of you, you’ll spot a striking four-story red brick building with a balcony over the main door, topped by a gray mansard roof and a white cupola standing proudly at the very peak.
In 1852, when Iowa City was still the capital, Ferdinand Haberstroh built this impressive structure-the Park House Hotel-beckoning weary business travelers with promises of comfort and maybe a little gossip over steamy mugs of coffee. After Haberstroh’s passing, a local priest scooped it up, and soon the Sisters of Charity from Dubuque swept in, transforming it into St. Agatha’s Female Seminary. Imagine the flutter of long skirts and a sign stretching clear across the building declaring, “Seminary for the Education of Young Ladies.” The first two floors buzzed with learning, while up above, students and sisters ducked under the new roof-installed in 1875-where tales of late-night whispers and laughter were surely common. When the school closed, the building’s next act was as a women’s boarding house, and eventually, as Burkeley Place, it settled into a long career as an apartment building. If these bricks could remember, they’d surely know more secrets than the city’s pigeons. With recent renovations and National Historic status, the Park House Hotel still stands-watching, welcoming, and oh, if only the local squirrels would spill the real stories!
