Among his designs: Newman center, City Hall, fire station, Robert A. Lee Rec Center and his home, now on National Register of Historic Places

IOWA CITY — Retired Iowa City architect Roland Wehner never intended to be an inspiration.

And yet a number of people in his life became architects. Classmates drew sketches and doodles of him over the years, which he kept. And then there are the buildings he designed over his 40-year career.

They include schools, municipal buildings, churches, homes and other buildings in the Iowa City area and across the state.

The first set of construction drawings with Wehner’s name as a registered architect was for the Iowa City home he and his wife, Marilyn, designed and built in the late 1950s just off Highway 1 in Iowa City.

The couple, now living in Coralville, reflected on his career and building their home together, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. They lived there for 57 years until 2017.

Wehner, 90, a self-described “prodigious saver,” has kept his drawings and documents over the decades well organized.

Wehner was born in Hancock County, Ill., in 1931. The Wehner family moved to Oakville, a small Iowa town north of Burlington, when the family’s farmland flooded in the 1940s. Wehner was valedictorian in the nine-member Class of 1949 at Oakville High School.

At Iowa State University, Wehner first studied electrical engineering before switching to architecture, graduating in 1954.

At his first job, working at Dane D. Morgan & Associates in Burlington, Wehner met Marilyn, who was a secretary at the firm.

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The two married on New Year’s Day 1956. They’ve been married for 66 years and have two children.

After a Chicago honeymoon, the two moved to Iowa City where Marilyn enrolled at the University of Iowa and Roland started working with architect Henry L. Fisk.

Working with Fisk was an opportunity Wehner said he’s “grown to appreciate.” He still has the original letter from Fisk inviting him to an interview.

Wehner started as an intern architect, became licensed in 1958 and a partner in the firm in 1960. Fisk and Wehner worked together on houses, schools, City Hall and fire station in Iowa City, the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center and other buildings throughout the city.

Fisk worked in Iowa City from 1934 until his death in 1962.

After Fisk’s death, Wehner decided to remain in Iowa City and created a firm with college classmate Harvey Henry. Over the years, the firm went by various names as partners changed.

He makes clear his success over the years “relied heavily” on his partners, who included architects Richard Pattschull, William Nowysz and John Pfiffner. Longtime secretary Doris Schornhorst also was instrumental, he said.

“Everyone in the office played a role in the success of the firm,” Wehner said.

The firm worked on projects — homes, schools, city buildings, churches, apartment buildings and more — primarily in Iowa but also in Illinois, Missouri, South Dakota and other states.

“We approached every job with the same kind of dedication,” Wehner said.

All of the firm’s drawings — nearly 1,300 — were donated to the State Historical Society of Iowa in 2013. They are called the Pattschull Collection since he was the last to retire.

Asked about his favorite projects, Wehner said “each project was a challenge on its own.” But one that stands out is the Newman Catholic Student Center in Iowa City.

He was the lead architect on this project and did all of the drawings and specifications. He recalled on Saturday mornings when Father Ed Fitzpatrick dropped into the firm’s office as Wehner was finishing up what didn’t get done during the week.

“That was a very good relationship, client and architect,” Wehner said. “When people ask who designed the Newman Center, I say Father Ed and I.”

Marilyn Wehner said her favorite project was their house.

In spring 1957, the Wehners bought a wooded lot just off Highway 1 in Iowa City.

The two moved their house trailer to the lot and started to think what they wanted their house to look like, even building a small model of it.

The home — at 3112 Highway 1 NE in Iowa City — was built in two phases. The main part was built in 1959 and the bedroom wing completed in 1965. The house is built of Anamosa stone and California redwood.

Inspiration for the house’s design came from Frank Lloyd Wright, an architect whose work Wehner had admired since college. The house has a “pinwheel” stairway that leads to the five levels.

“There's nothing in our house that copies something cold out of a Frank Lloyd Wright house, but the overall feeling — the grammar, the sense of shelter, close relationship with the site — were all Wrightian principles,” Wehner said.

The couple loved living in the woods, Marilyn said, and would hike through them often.

“It was a beautiful place to live,” Marilyn said, noting the many wildflowers, migratory birds, opossums, raccoon, baby fox and deer.

She loved the home’s family room where the family spent most of their time. The house also had a photography darkroom in the basement, a must for Roland.

They now live in a condo and occasionally invite the new owners of their home to stop by. Wehner made a booklet for them with information about the home.

Wehner retired in 1994, continuing to work part-time for two more years. In 2001, he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity for five years, drafting and helping build 25 houses.

Wehner also continued his interest in photography, which goes back to his high school years. When he graduated from college, his graduation gift from his parents was an Argus C-4 camera.

Wehner still has that camera, displayed on a bookshelf next to his desk, along with other film cameras in his collection. Wehner enjoys photographing architecture and national parks.

Wehner donated about 30,000 images to the State Historical Society of Iowa in 2016, digitizing the images before donating them.

Asked about what he hopes people take away from the buildings he and his firms have designed, Wehner said it’s difficult to put into words.

“But I hope that the buildings have a timelessness about them,” Wehner said. “That they don't necessarily pick up the latest fad, that they're practical and functional, but yet interesting.”

Below is a list of some of the major projects in the Iowa City area where retired architect Roland Wehner provided all or most of the professional services:

Schools: Robert Lucas Elementary; Liberty Township Elementary; Ernest Horn Elementary; Irving Weber Elementary; Kate Wickham Elementary; Regina Elementary School; plus a number of school additions and alternations

Municipal buildings: Iowa City police and fire stations and southeast fire station; Iowa City Civic Center; Robert A. Lee Recreation Center; Coralville fire station 1 and 2; Coralville police station; Coralville Recreation Center; Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center; Johnson County Jail

Religious buildings: Wesley Center; Trinity Christian Reformed Church; First Christian Church; Our Redeemer Lutheran Church; Hillel House Jewish Student Center; Coralville Methodist Church addition; Newman Catholic Student Center

Others: Federal Land Bank; Greenwood Acres Nursing Home; Iowa Book and Supply Co.; Highlander Inn; University of Iowa Law Library; Hills Bank (Gilbert Street and North Liberty branches)

Homes: 4 multifamily projects and 18 single-family homes, including his own.

Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com

Iowa City and Johnson County government reporter, The Gazette

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