The Alexander Brownlie House, also known as the Sod House, is a historical structure located in Long Grove, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

since 1976.

History

The significance of the Brownlie House is found in its development as rural architecture from the pioneer era to the early 20th century. with Alexander Brownlie and his brother James settled this part of Scott County in the late 1830s. The first section of the house was completed by Alexander Brownlie in 1839 on a foundation of coursed

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The structure was composed of bricks made of molded clay and grass. Lathe was then attached to the bricks by using square nails and it was covered with plaster. The exterior was covered with clapboard. An addition was built onto the east side in 1846. It was a -story frame structure with

brick nogging Brick nog, (nogging or nogged,Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press 2009. Nog, v. 2. beam filling) is a construction technique in which bricks are used to fill the vacancies in a wooden frame. The w ...

. The original chimney was removed and replaced with a connecting doorway between the original house and the addition. The main entrance into the house was moved to the right, yet it remains on the original structure. A third addition was added after 1893 on the north side, which gave the structure an L-shaped floor plan. It too was of frame construction. In subsequent years the second floor and the third addition have been removed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlie, Alexander, House Houses completed in 1839 Houses in Scott County, Iowa Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Scott County, Iowa Vernacular architecture in Iowa