The Jay Norwood and Genevieve Pendleton Darling House is an historic building located in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, United States. The residence was the home of cartoonist

Ding Darling Jay Norwood Darling (October 21, 1876 – February 12, 1962), better known as Ding Darling, was an American cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes. He was an important figure in the 20th century conservation movement and founded the National Wil ...

, who worked for ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...

'' and whose cartoons were syndicated in over 100 newspapers across the country. with In the early 1930s, he became involved in the conservation movement, especially wildlife conservation. His advocacy was reflected in his cartoons. Part of his conservation legacy in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

is the Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit program that he initiated at

Iowa State College Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

and the expansion of the research facilities at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. The house sits behind

Terrace Hill Terrace Hill, also known as Hubbell Mansion, Benjamin F. Allen House or the Iowa Governor's Mansion, is the official residence of the governor of Iowa, United States. Located at 2300 Grand Avenue in Des Moines, it is an example of Second Empire ...

, the residence of Iowa's Governors. The Darlings did not build the house, but they did make some changes when they owned it. The original house and the first major addition was the work of two prominent Des Moines architectural firms, Hailett and Rawson and

Proudfoot, Rawson & Souers Proudfoot & Bird was an American architectural firm that designed many buildings throughout the Midwest region of the United States. Originally established in 1882, it remains active through its several successors, and since 2017 has been known as ...

. Darling had architect John W. Brooks design the east wing and main entrance. He also chose the house's dark brown color. The changes Darling made to the house mixed elegance with earthiness and allowed it to blend in with its natural surroundings. It was 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 ...

in 1992 as a part of the ''Conservation Movement in Iowa MPS''.

References

Houses completed in 1926 Houses in Des Moines, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Des Moines, Iowa Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Tudor Revival architecture in Iowa 1926 establishments in Iowa {{DesMoinesIA-stub