The Larrabees built their home in northeast Iowa in 1874. (Photo: Travel Iowa)
One hundred and fifty years ago, William and Anna Larrabee hired a crew to build a stately brick mansion on a wooded hilltop overlooking Clermont, up in northeast Iowa. The couple named it Montauk, a nod to their early years back East, and raised their seven children there.
William Larrabee went on to serve as Iowa’s 13th governor (1886-1890). Ownership of the house passed on to the children and eventually to the state of Iowa, which maintains the historic site as a museum.
To celebrate Montauk’s 150th anniversary, the State Historical Society of Iowa is hosting a to-do from noon to 4 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, with tours, wagon rides, a Civil War presentation, music, refreshments and a chance to meet a few Brown Swiss cows like the ones the Larrabees raised on the property. On Sunday, head down the hill to Clermont for a pipe organ concert at the Union Sunday School.
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