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FALL 2002
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Turning points

A critical point in the Knoll’s history came in 1965. President Hilton was leaving office and Bob Parks was
about to enter it. The Board of Regents appointed a campus planning committee to study the old house and make recommendations about its future. The report is recorded in the minutes of the Regents’ April meeting.

“. . . the present site is inadequate in providing a proper degree of privacy and freedom. The close proximity of the women’s dormitories on the east, the nearness of a major highway on the south, and the possibility of Union expansion on the west, all create problems and conditions which are not conducive for a private, personal, and family life.”

In addition, university social functions had grown to such an extent that they were beginning to be held elsewhere because of the “inadequacy in the size or design of the Knoll.”

The site was too valuable for continued use as a residence, the report concluded. The Knoll’s location would be better suited to an art gallery, bookstore, museum, or possibly a school of design, music, or drama. The committee even had recommendations about new sites for the president’s home: the arboretum between State Street and South Sheldon, or a site on South Beach.

The Parks family was ambivalent. “I was reluctant to move anywhere,” said the late Ellen Parks, in an interview with the Ames Tribune in 1985. They had lived in Ames for many years before Parks was promoted to president. “And Bob didn’t like them spending all that money on a new house.”

And then Ellen Parks threw her first party at the Knoll: the wedding reception of her eldest daughter, Andrea. “We fixed it up, and that’s when we decided this is where we were going to live,” she said. “It had so much meaning for ISU.”

The future of the Knoll as the home of Iowa State’s presidents was secured. The Parks family’s residency began with a flurry of renovation, including major exterior changes. The home’s distinctive wrap-around porch gave way to a garden room, used for entertaining.

A second turning point came at the conclusion of the nine-year Jischke era in 2000. By then, it was clear that the first floor had become a space for the public, rather than just thefirst family. In fact, the president’s family had been increasingly edged out by the approximately 8,000 guests who visited the Knoll every year.

The first-floor kitchen was the only one in the house, and it served as both central station for large parties and preparation headquarters for family meals and snacks. Its dual purpose made it inadequate for both functions. Increasingly, the Jischke teens called out for pizza because the kitchen was being used to prepare food for guests. But on the other hand, the kitchen’s family-sized appliances were inadequate for large gatherings. “The home wasn’t designed for the level of entertaining that we did,” said Martin Jischke,” (ISU Daily, January 2001). “It needs some changing.”

A $1.7 million construction project, paid for by private donations raised by the ISU Foundation, provided for a renovation of the first-floor kitchen, equipping it with stainless steel appliances, and bringing it up to industrial standards. On the north side of the house, a three-car garage and an elevator were added. Above the expanded garage, a family room with a family kitchen and dining area were added. The total construction project added 3,000 square feet to the house.

When President Gregory Geoffroy moved into the Knoll in the summer of 2001, the old house was ready to begin the next phase of its life.

Read on | Presidents and their families at the Knoll