Salisbury House (Des Moines, Iowa)


Salisbury House in Des Moines, Iowa is a Tudor, Gothic and Carolean style manor home. It was built by cosmetic magnate Carl Weeks and his wife, Edith Van Slyke Weeks, between 1923 and 1928. Salisbury House was modeled after the King's House in Salisbury, England, contains 42 rooms and measures just over. The property is owned and operated by the Salisbury House Foundation and is open to the public for tours, public events, and private rentals.
Salisbury House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The listing covered a area with two contributing buildings, one other contributing structure and one contributing site. Salisbury House is also on the List of Registered Historic Places in Iowa.

Timeline

The Weeks Family amassed extensive collections of fine art, decorative art, rare books, musical instruments, historic documents, weapons and sculpture, and most of their holdings remain in Salisbury House to this day. However, in the summer of 2019, Grinnell College purchased the library of Carl and Edith Weeks and moved the collection of approximately 3,000 volumes and 2,500 historic documents to Burling Library on the Grinnell College campus. The collection remains open for research by the public, and Grinnell continues to collaborate with Salisbury House on programming involving the magnificent collection.
The Salisbury House Foundation offers various tour packages that allow visitors to experience many highlights from the Weeks Family's collections.