“Just about what my mother and sister want in the way of a house,” August 1947

Photo of the new Goff/Wilson home at 505 N. 4th Street in Guthrie Center, The Times, Guthrie Center, March 11, 1948

August 13, 1947

Mr. Oral Bower
203 S. 5th Ave.
Guthrie Center, IowaRe: New home for Mrs. L.A. Goff
      and Leora F. Wilson

Dear Mr. Bower:

You will find a sketch enclosed of just about what my mother and sister want in the way of a house. They would like to have your comments and suggestions on this; and any changes that might be necessary to make to better fit on the lot, etc. They would also appreciate an estimate of the cost for both brick veneer and frame. If agreeable to you and the city, Mrs. Wilson’s two sons will do the electric wiring. They are electricians at Perry, Iowa. We can furnish the Timken Furnace with controls and 275 Gal. oil tank. We would want a local shop to install the furnace, ducts and tank.

The following are some of the things we would like to have in the house.

52-Gal. Electric water heater
8x12 chimney with flue lining.
6’6” high directional-flow warm air registers.
Return air from all rooms except kitchen and bath.
2-warm air outlets with branches in the basement.
Steel beams in basement–no partitions.
4” Rock Wool insulation in attic.
1” Balsom wool in the walls.
Weather stripping and Storm doors and windows
Composition or asbestos shingles.
basement 11 blocks deep. (use 12” wide blocks, if brick veneer)
Sod lawn on North, east and south.
Full basement except under porch and deck.

It would seem that the house should be set low on the East, so that the back of the house on the west will not be too far out of the ground. Possibly the dirt from the excavating could be used to fill in the west part of the lot. Everything including the grading and sodding should be complete. 

From the above, we hope that you will be able to make up some tentative sketches and specifications and estimates. Thank you, 

[signed] C.Z. Goff

Clarence Goff’s sketch

Mrs. Wilson’s sons, Delbert and Donald, did electrical work together for a while after the war.

Wilson’s Wiring, Perry, Iowa, with daughters of Delbert and Evelyn Wilson, Leora Darlene and Donna Gaye, at 505 N. 4th Street in Guthrie Center, about 1948

Clarence Zenas Goff

Clarence Zenas Goff was a younger son of Laura, who was allowed to attend high school in Guthrie Center. He became the valedictorian of the Class of 1923 at age 17. In the letter above he mentions Timken Furnace, which was the company he ran in Omaha for years. In fact, during the Great Depression, when his older brothers (who’d served in WWI) couldn’t pay for their trucks, he gave them jobs.

Laura Goff’s Dexter house had been collateral for those trucks, so that was lost as well. C.Z. was 30 years old when he provided a home in Omaha for his mother, two brothers, and the motherless teenagers of one brother. And when WWII broke out, C.Z. Goff joined the Navy as an officer.

Back to the house plans in 1947. Clarence’s mother and sister also wanted a mailbox opening in the front door. I can still hear the brass flap slap shut and the mail fall onto the floor just inside the door.