Nellie and Thomas Knotts House

Des Moines, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Heritage registerNational Register of Historic Places↗

The Nellie and Thomas Knotts House is a two-story Victorian dwelling built in 1894 in Des Moines, Iowa. Featuring a gabled-ell design with a chamfered front section, fishscale shingles, and a hipped porch, the house exemplifies late-nineteenth-century residential architecture. Thomas Knotts, who became president of Iowa Printing Company and later a manager of Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, acquired the property with his wife Nellie in 1893, and they occupied the house through at least 1907. The lot's significance extends beyond its architectural merit: it was one of three parcels Drake University sold to foster development around its campus, demonstrating the institution's role in shaping the surrounding neighborhood through innovative financing practices. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.