The Biltmore of the Heartland

My fair city has a hidden gem from the 1920s, a grand mansion built by a makeup mogul (yes, makeup.  He was a native Iowan who was pursuing some girl, and when she went to college abroad, he wound up in Paris and figured out how to blend face powder with cold cream.  Voila'! - instant foundation.)  So with some clever marketing, he wound up with a few exce$$ million$ on his hands and built this:

Pretty stunning on the inside, too. Not on the scale of The Biltmore, but grand just the same. This stop was part of a little Mother's Day outing, including a stop at a drugstore soda fountain and a walk through the rose garden of the local art museum. It was a little early for many of the roses, but there was some interesting sculpture, there, too.

Parts of the sculpture looked remarkably contemporary and lifelike. :)