This unusual house was designed by Franklin Manz, prominent Spokane architect, and built by Rockwood home builder C.A. Lansdowne in 1912 for a reported $13,500 - a sizeable sum of money for that time. The American Foursquare-style home was purchased by Ralph E. Dyar, author, playwright and former director of The Spokesman-Review promotion and research department. Dyar, a descendant of one of the first passengers brought to America aboard the "Mayflower," owned and lived in the home for 40 years together with his wife Else Kiesling Dyar. The house changed hands several times after the death of Else Kiesling Dyar in 1967.