Iowans whose summer vacation plans include taking a peek into a famous house in West Branch will have to settle for a view from the yard. You’ll be disappointed if you’d hoped to get inside the Herbert Hoover birthplace.
The tiny frame house where the only U.S. president from Iowa was born in 1874 is closing for renovation work and painting, a process that could take as long as four months. In the meantime, an exhibit on the house is opening at the nearby Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.
It’ll include a couple of artifacts, including the family cradle. Museum officials say part of the reason the work will take so long is the cottage is considered a health hazard. It’s coated in lead-based paint — a problem that’s being rectified.