Improvements coming to the Ring House in Mapleton

Published 3:05 pm Wednesday, October 7, 2026

The Ring House located on 6th Street in Mapleton was the first frame house in the Mapleton area. This house was built 2 3/4 miles north of Mapleton on the east side of what is now Highway 175 in 1865. The Ring House remained on the original farm site until 1929 when it was moved to its current location.
“It’s really beautiful. You don’t see houses like that anymore,” said Roxie Maier. “Each of those spindles in there going up the stairs, every one of them is different because Mr. Ring hand turned those.”
Roxie and her husband, Ed Maier, toured the Ring House during Mapleton’s 4th of July celebration this summer and noticed the house was in need of some improvements that will be done in phases.
The first project on the list was to improve the landscaping outside.
Prior to moving to Mapleton, Roxie was involved with the Palo Alto Garden Club when the couple lived in Emmetsburg. The Garden Club did the landscaping outside of a victorian house in Emmetsburg and that sparked an idea for the landscaping around the Ring House.
“I know something could be done (outside of the Ring House), but I thought I needed help,” Roxie said.
She reached out to Peg (Scoles) Hanner who is a master gardener to help with the landscaping.
Roxie explained, “Peg said ‘we’ll do this in phases and we’ll do the fall phase and then the spring phase, and we’ll keep adding as we go.’”
Roxie and Ed measured the areas, dug up what they could dig up and put down mulch.
Peg asked if they had any Whiting Iris.
Whiting Iris has a special connection to Mapleton. In 1950, Agnes Whiting of Mapleton was awarded “The Dykes Medal” for the Blue Rhythm.
The award is presented annually for the most outstanding iris developed that year. Blue Rhythm became probably the most award winning iris in history. Blue Rhythm is considered the first true blue iris ever hybridized.
Blue Rhythm won first place on the American Iris Society’s list of the 100 most popular irises in American as voted by the society in 1951. It remained on the “100 Best” list for 20 years.
Agnes Whiting was the first woman to win the highest award of the American Iris Society, the Hybridizer’s Medal of the Society.
They couple had one white kind of Whiting Iris and Ed posted on a message on Facebook looking for more. Someone had the “award winning” Blue Rhythm Whiting Iris and were willing to donate.
Peg designed a landscaping plan for the Ring House using the Whiting Iris along with unique lilies.
“She’s an invaluable resource,” Roxie said. “I’ve planted so much stuff and I’ve never ever paid attention to the names or ever kept them. She has all this stuff.”
List of the flowers in the landscaping will include Hawkeye Fire, Cyclone Circle Dance, Iowa Sunshine, Lori’s Blond Curls, Lovely Margie, My Friend Jonathan, Glady-My Little Chickadee, I Can Only Imagine, and Tande.
Peg made information sheets about each plant that includes the Hybridizer, registration, height, bloom size and color, etc. There will be some sort of little display to showcase this information.
With all of the rain lately, the new plants haven’t had to be watered much. There is no water at the Ring House so water will have to be hauled there when needed.
Roxie explained, “We are doing it in phases so it doesn’t get overwhelming.”
More planting will take place in the spring. This part of the project will include the front of the house and the back of the sign. There is also one part that they couldn’t plant because there’s too much rock in it. Since starting this project, Cory Johnshoy has removed the rock so they can prep the area for planting when the time comes. He is also going to look for a big rock to place by the Ring House.
Dennis Muckey made a sign to place that will be placed by the door when you walk into the Ring House.
The tree in the front yard will be cut down as it is unstable and could fall right into the house. The plan is to put another tree there.
The Ring House porches both need painted and repairs need to be made to the screens. They would also like to add edging around the new landscaping.
If anyone is interested in helping or volunteering with the Ring House or make a donation to help pay for the improvements, contact Keith Robinson or Ed or Roxie Maier.
The Maiers wanted to help with the Ring House because “it is part of our history.”
Ed said, “When it’s not open all the time, sometimes people forget what all is in there. It’s really very interesting that family, 150 years or better afterwards, still had all the portraits and had the letters.”
He and Keith Robinson went to New York over Memorial Day one year and picked up a van load of stuff from the Ring family for the Ring House Museum.
There are also some updates that need to be done to the inside.
The plan is to have all of the improvements done to the Ring House in time for Mapleton’s 150th in 2028.