Writer: Laurie Johns
Photographer: Duane Tinkey
Monty Lovell walked through the gates at sunrise and nimbly bent down to pull a weed on his way to what will be the new Terrace Hill greenhouse.
The challenge of the day is how to get plumbing to the greenhouse without sacrificing water pressure to the historic in-ground pool. He also needs to plan a schedule for the groundskeeping volunteers and gently rearrange the furniture for an upcoming public event.
No job is too big or small for Lovell in his role as the groundskeeper and facilities maintenance coordinator for the governor’s official residence, a National Historic Landmark just west of downtown Des Moines. Good thing he’s built his reputation as a guy who is always willing to roll up his sleeves and work with passion, creativity and quiet energy.
At 62, the Des Moines native has spent nearly every day of the last quarter century either actively working on site or thinking about which chores need to be done next. It’s not a 9-to-5 weekday job. As the property’s steward, he’s served under four governors and worked alongside countless volunteers, community leaders, contractors and preservationists.
In a few short months, he plans to retire. But he still hasn’t quite wrapped his head around the concept.
A ‘garden ninja’
It was a hot spring day six years ago when I first met Lovell. I had joined a group of Master Gardener volunteers tasked with planting flower beds at Terrace Hill. We were supposed to follow a specific design, and Lovell was up to his elbows in dirt, smiling as he gave rapid-fire instructions:
“Make sure the plants are no closer together than five inches. That’s a trowel-handle distance apart. Red petunias in there, coleus in that section, and cleome down the center,” he said as he pointed to strings and stakes that outlined patterns on the ground. “Now, if you have any questions just let me know,” he said, before disappearing around the corner to help the next group.
Whenever someone planted something too close together, Lovell dropped to the ground and quietly nudged the plants into place. Yet despite the 95-degree heat index, he bounded across the 8-acre grounds never complaining. To us, he was an impossibly fit garden ninja who was in his element, working hard and working with people.
It’s always been that way.
A steady hand
Lovell said his career started at the age of 12 when a Des Moines Register photographer captured him in Beaverdale mowing lawns with his bicycle. “Off to make his first million,” Lovell said, recalling the photo caption.
“Well, I never did that, but I did have some great experiences,” he said, running his fingers through his full head of gray hair. “I didn’t set out with a plan. I just went job to job, and all the little jobs lead to this big job. By the time I got here in my 30s and came across the ad in the paper, it was a perfect fit.”
After graduating from Roosevelt High School, Lovell earned a degree in commercial horticulture from Des Moines Area Community College. Then he built up his resume with on-the-job training and contractor work.
“I had talented people show me the ropes along the way, which brought me to a lot of restoration work at historic homes in the area,” he said. “I know they respect that my approach has always been that you’re fixing things more than changing things. So if there’s a broken piece of glass in an antique window, you’re going to work to fix that one piece of glass. You don’t take out the whole window.”
Lovell’s “less is more” approach to maintaining the 1869 mansion matches his laid-back approach to modern-day politics. “I’ve worked for two Democrats and two Republicans while I’ve been here. I’ve never put a sign up for one party or another,” he said. “The way I look at it, we vote people in, we vote people out. I’m not going to support one side or another, but I have appreciated the opportunity to serve each first family — the Vilsacks, Culvers, Branstads and Reynoldses. I represent Terrace Hill. That’s it.”
Swimmers enjoy the Terrace Hill pool in 1937. Photo courtesy of Terrace Hill
The Terrace Hill pool in 2026.
A care-taker
For 26 years, Lovell earned respect by staying quietly loyal and unquestionably dedicated to the job of maintaining, sustaining and restoring the historic property.
“Since there’s a valuable collection in the house, if someone’s moving a piece of furniture, even a light couch, I spend half a day showing them how to do it, because you can’t bump into a wall or damage woodwork,” he said. “Everything is very old and very fragile.”
He applies the same respect to the grounds and wildlife. “Rabbits are always an issue. For them, we just adjust the plants we put in,” he said. “When it comes to deer, though, we’ve tried various repellants over the years, including tiger poo from Blank Park Zoo.” (For the record, it was smelly but it worked.)
“I’ve seen some cool things here, and I never know what I’m going to find when I walk through the gates,” he said. “I will always remember the morning when I was greeted by an albino fox. And before the fence went in, I saw an eight-point buck. Turkeys also like to check this place out.”
Not all wildlife experiences at Terrace Hill were rosy.
“Oh, back in 2014 I had to go up into the crawl space in the attic of the carriage house to remove a dead raccoon,” he said. “It was all bloated and, well, that wasn’t a good day.”
Lovell’s retirement date is set for Feb. 2, 2027. Whatever he embraces next, he probably won’t do it at a leisurely pace. “Sure, I’d like to float in a pool in the summers and then in the winters travel to Florida to see grandkids. Maybe remodel my kitchen,” he said. “I’d also like to get a fishing boat and check that out. And I’ve been meaning to get in touch with the Department of Transportation. I like playing in the snow, and they need people to remove snow in the winters. I’d like to try something new, like taking up metal work, maybe sculpture. I’d like to try bronze, but my wife says that’s expensive.”
After a 5-second pause, he smiled. “But I’m sure she’ll probably just be happiest about my being home to pull weeds at our place, for once.”
Lovell follows a long line of gardeners at Terrace Hill. An early greenhouse, pictured above in 1872, inspired a new one that will be ready for the 2027 growing season. Photo courtesy of Terrace Hill. Rendering courtesy of OPN Architects
Contributor Laurie Johns of West Des Moines was a longtime journalist for WHO-TV. She is now a writer, artist and Master Gardener who posts gardening tips on YouTube @MilkweedsNRosesGardener.
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