Fairfield, Iowa: Dancing To The Beat Of Its Own Drum

 

He’s yelling you don’t need to go to Egypt to see the Sphinx. Save your money, and come here instead. But we’re not at a world-famous tourist destination. We’re standing inside a rural Iowa stranger’s house in a residential neighborhood, looking at one of the most eccentric and unique marvels we’ve ever seen—a carnival funhouse for the mind.

Fairfield, Iowa: Things To Do In A Melting Pot Of Creativity

Fairfield is not a typical Iowa small town, or any small town in America, for that matter. It’s been distinctive and free thinking from its pioneering days to the town’s past and present universities. Oprah calls Fairfield America’s most unusual town.

People from across the country and worldwide are attracted to Fairfield’s unparalleled vibe. Within its population of ten thousand, being different is the norm, and artistic spirits inhabit every hidden space. Several people now calling Fairfield home expressed to us that they feel accepted as they are and without judgment. Thus, expect a town full of eclectic entrepreneurs and an artistic paradise for a sensational new destination and a fresh experience.    

Throughout its history, locals and newcomers have made Fairfield a charming place to visit. These are a handful of people who make Fairfield a treasure trove of undiscovered experiences. From restaurants, the arts, history, and nature, see why you need to get off the interstate to have an experience like no other in Fairfield, Iowa.

An Epic Hidden Immersive Art Experience You Need To See In Fairfield, Iowa

Tom Lassota raised his house over six feet so visitors would have headroom to walk through the second and third floors to view his far-out creations. Over the last twenty years, Lassota has built an immersive art experience of dynamic colors, elaborate shapes, and mechanical whimsies. Fluorescent colors and black lights highlight 3D shapes, many spinning and moving throughout the exhibit. 

Much of Lassota’s inspiration comes from seeing the ancient world through magazines like National Geographic. Some scenes are made from pieces of discarded archaic telephone booths, while other unorthodox displays come from discarded materials from construction projects. 

You could say Lassota is a dumpster diver inspired by National Geographic. Part mad scientist and part treasure hunter, inspiration can pop up anywhere. Intrigued by uncommon materials, Lassota found pieces of old phone booths in a dumpster. A Local company exports the cobwebbed castles of communication to South America, and they toss unneeded parts. Look for the facial image with flexible metal cords attached to phones representing hair.

Originally from Newark, New Jersey, Lassota moved to Olympia, Washington, before moving to Fairfield. In 1992, the Maharishi International University and its transcendental meditation brought him to Fairfield, and the program for world peace made him stay. 

Lassota’s art immersion is outstanding, but photos and videos cannot capture the essence. It’s a symphony for the senses, not just the eyes.  To see Lassota’s art immersion exhibit, schedule an appointment by contacting him on Facebook or leaving a message on his phone at 641-451-4124. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.

Sensational People Behind Fairfield’s Performing Arts 

Lindsay Bauer, an Iowa native and the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center executive director, leads a topflight arts and culture program. The shining stars of the FACC are the Stephen Sondheim Theater for the Performing Arts and the Fairfield Art Association Art Gallery.

Backstage on a quiet day without performances, we caught up with Seth Moore, the sound engineer at the FACC and musician from Tennessee. Moore told us about the new sound system from a German company called CODA Audio. He said the world-class sound system is the only one like it in America.

At a campfire event in Jefferson County Park, we met Monserrat Iniguez. After our conversations that night, Iniguez became our inspiration for this article. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, moved to Fairfield for the university, and then moved to Des Moines. While in Des Moines, she felt a strong sense of home calling, a place she dearly missed and loved. She found her home, which wasn’t Los Angeles but Fairfield. Her parents didn’t get it. From the big city of LA to the small town of Fairfield, Iniguez found her home.

Iniguez is passionate about the spoken word and any form of expression that includes words. She created Soapbox Speakeasy, a language performance art show that holds events about six weeks apart at Noble House Kava on Main Street. Performers stand on soap boxes placed throughout the venue. As performers move from soapboxes, the audience moves with them.

Don’t expect somber poetry readings. She believes words are full of life and spice. More than poems recited, the Soapbox Speakeasy showcases a variety of performances from the soul, where words dance, sing, and soar beyond the printed page. Not knowing what to expect will keep you on your toes.

Experience The United Nations Of Cuisine In Fairfield, Iowa

The local government claims it has more restaurants per capita than San Fransisco. However, prepare to have your passport stamped without leaving town. Fairfield is basically the United Nations of cuisine, only tastier and without the meetings. Finding a small town with Fairfield’s variety of cuisines is unheard of. Some restaurant examples are Egyptian, Turkish, Ethiopian, Mediterranean, Indian, Asian, and plenty of American.

Due South

Two Fairfield restaurants by Teah Benkoczy and Camp Boswell combined into one location named Due South.  Known for their excellence, the Lunchbox and Broth Lab contributed many of their most popular dishes to Due South’s menu at the former Broth Lab 641 location.

After culinary school in Colorado, Camp trained under James Beard’s award-winning chef, James Hastings, in Birmingham, Alabama. Benkoczy, originally from Seattle, and Boswell, from southern Alabama, met in Asheville, North Carolina. Read why they left life in bigger cities behind and chose Fairfield to open restaurants and raise a family here.  

Due South: Surprising Top-Notch Dining In Small-Town Fairfield, Iowa.

Asian Pho Bistro

Asian Pho Bistro in Fairfield, Iowa, serves an incredible lunch. Our favorite appetizer, Crab Rangoons, was delicious, as well as Pad Kee Mao and Lo Mein. Fairfield surprised us with the variety and quality of locally owned restaurants. 

One of these was the Asian Pho Bistro, owned by Geena Xayavong. Geena’s parents left Laos in 1980 to settle in New Mexico, but Xayavong’s uncle persuaded the family to move to Southeast Iowa for work. Geena was born in Thailand on the way to America, and the family settled in Ottumwa when she was five months old.

The Asian Pho Bistro was named Fairfield’s 2023 Restaurant of the Year by the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Judging by when we ate at the restaurant and its passionate followers, the Chamber got it right. The Asian Pho Bistro serves a combination of East Asian cuisines. Xayavong’s parents run the Noodle House, a Thai-inspired restaurant, on North Court Street, on the opposite side of downtown’s Central Park.

Have Mind-Blowing Encounters At The Carnegie Historical Museum

The Carnegie Historical Museum curator-manager Jake Schmidt is fascinating, much like his replica of an ancient Inca pottery bird whistle. He filled it with water and brought it out for show and tell. 

While we toured the museum, Schmidt ran away, full of giddy joy, to grab a surprise to show us. Upon returning, he tilted a replica two-chamber Inca pottery water whistle downhill, moving water between the chambers to create a live-sounding bird noise. It’s wild how real it sounds. He bought the clay water whistle so visitors to the museum can feel and hear ancient traditional pottery firsthand. You can see an actual indigenous water whistle relic in the ancient Zuni Pueblo Pottery display at the Carnegie Historical Museum.

A native of Fairfield, Schmidt left Iowa life for a career move to New York City. He explored New York’s history and architecture at every chance and loved it. Eventually, the rigors of America’s biggest city took its toll, and the enchantment of Iowa’s small-town life pulled Schmidt back home.

It’s good he returned, or he couldn’t tell the story about his close call with mortality in the museum’s Civil War display case. When entering the display case, Schmidt and museum staff repeatedly stepped over ammunition from the 1860s to hang artifacts when they noticed one large shell, about the size of your head, was leaking. They called the state fire marshall out of concern, only to learn it could have easily exploded. The fire marshal buried the shell in a field, silencing the echo of war with a muffled boom and a proper send-off. A circular liquid stain remains in front of the Civil War rifles as evidence of the near-life-threatening incident.

See A Museum Second To None With Smithsonian Collections

Regarding history, Schmidt is a ball of energy and lives every moment full speed ahead at the Carnegie Historical Museum. Previously, the museum housed the first Andrew Carnegie-endowed library west of the Mississippi River. Now, the museum’s Native American pottery and Civil War artifacts are among the Midwest’s premier collections. 

Although yet to be verified, Schmidt has been told that the Smithsonian shipped fourteen curios of captivating and unusual collections from around the globe to the Carnegie. Lifesize wood and glass cases were also included to hold the world-class exhibits. Look throughout the museum for extraordinary 19th-century taxidermy, which the Smithsonian also sent. 

We’ve seen many small-town historical museums; the Carnegie Historical Museum is the best so far. 

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How To Find Small-Town Charm At The James A. Beck House In Fairfield, Iowa

You might enjoy a road trip to Fairfield, Iowa, to see the James A. Beck House. Owners Richard and Kendra Lint are restoring the 1896 Barber home to represent its original Queen Anne Victorian style. The Barber house, with its round front porch, is one of the most famous houses in Fairfield and represents the town’s small-town charm.

Richard and Kendra lived in Portland before finding their Fairfield dream house in 2020. Kendra fell in love with Barber houses and their architectural style and hoped to own one someday. 

While in Portland, she drove by a Barber house daily on her way to work. When the James A. Beck house was listed on Cheap Old Houses, an Instagram account Kendra follows, she immediately became intrigued by the possibility of seeing her dream come true. The Lints quickly arranged a road trip to Iowa to look into the historic 1896 Victorian-style Mansion, schools, and locations for their business. 

The Lints made an offer the same day, sold their house, and moved the family and business to Fairfield.

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The James A. Beck House: A George Franklin Barber Masterpiece

The James A. Beck house was designed by the famous architect George Franklin Barber (1854-1915) of Knoxville, Tennessee, and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Popular characteristics of Barber houses include a wrap-around porch, a polygonal turret, and beautiful stained glass windows. A notable architect, Barber sold house designs through mail-order catalogs in each state and worldwide. 

Restoring the mansion with historic accuracy is a priority for the Lints. The couple research architectural details, interior designs, and furniture to maintain as much period accuracy as possible. 

How To Tour The James A. Beck House

To say that Richard and Kendra love decorating for Halloween and Christmas is an understatement. Check out the 1890s Dr. Buggy they restored and added to their Halloween decorations along the driveway. When asked if their house is haunted, Kendra said not at the moment, but maybe they’ll get lucky someday. Of course, they also have an actual cemetery on their property close to the house. 

The historic home is at the corner of Burlington Avenue and D Street. You can follow their restoration and history on their James A Beck House social media accounts. They open their home to visitors for an architectural tour of homes in Fall, Halloween, and Christmas.

Get Out In Nature By Going Birding In Fairfield, Iowa

We haven’t been birding before. We never even considered it. But, we had an opportunity in Fairfield and went with an open mind. Birding is not even close to what we thought it would be, and we had a blast!

To help us understand birding, we explored Jefferson County Conservation Park with professional birder Diane Porter and Therese Cummisky, a naturalist who retired from Jefferson County Park. These two are a hoot! 

We realized from these two hilarious gals that it’s more than listening and looking for different birds. It’s another chance to get out in nature. They also taught us how to whistle by using an acorn cap. That’s not something you learn every day. 

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Meet Professional Bird Watchers Michael And Diane Porter

Birders extraordinaire Diane and her husband, Michael, moved to Fairfield from Santa Barbara, California, in 1982. Together, they contribute their expertise to many publications, such as Bird Watcher’s Digest and their website, Birdwatching.com.

As far as what drew them to Iowa, Michael said the TM movement and Iowa’s four seasons, which host a changing cast of birds. Diane said they felt more in contact with nature in the Fairfield area, and birds come from all parts of the country to Southeastern Iowa.

The Porters mostly enjoy bird watching on their property but recommend birding at Jefferson County Conservation Park and Lacey-Keosauqua State Park, twenty-three miles south of Fairfield. Diane also mentioned that Jefferson County Conservation Park has plans to bring back organized bird walks.

Diane and Michael have a birdwatching store on their property. Since they are usually outside in nature, those interested in visiting should call 800-779-7256 ahead of time to make an appointment.

Is birding for you? Don’t answer that too quickly. What you see in the movies isn’t what it’s really like. We had a blast, and we’d do it again. You can find out more from the Porter’s website, birdwatching.com. 

Birding: A Great Way To Enjoy Nature Anywhere

While at Jefferson County Conservation Park, we spotted someone camping with two parrots. We stopped and talked to them. Yes, the campers and their parrots. Violet and Penelope are therapy parrots that visit nursing homes in the area and are excellent conversationalists. In case you are wondering, birding comes in many shapes and forms. 

We found that Fairfield, in Southeast Iowa, is a beautiful place to explore nature and escape the hustle and bustle. As Diane likes to say, “Birding is your lifetime ticket to the theater of nature.”

See Life-Changing Agricultural Inventions At Maasdam Barns

In the early twentieth century, an agricultural inventor from Cassville, Pennsylvania, played a part in changing history in Fairfield, Iowa. William Louden invented mechanisms to make life easier for farmers. Louden had 118 patents centered on making labor less strenuous and more efficient for farmers. His inventions transformed into the Louden Machinery Company located in downtown Fairfield. 

Louden earned his first patent for a hay-stacking device in 1867. As a result, farmers could stack and store hay higher with much less back-breaking labor. For that reason, bigger and taller barns could be constructed. A flexible barn door hanger is another famous Louden invention, and a similar design is still used nationwide. 

Because Louden specialized in laborsaving devices, he created a free barn planning service in 1907 to construct more efficient barns. Naturally, these barns worked with equipment from The Louden Machinery Company. Barn catalogs were distributed throughout the United States and worldwide.

The most popular Louden product was traveling overhead monorail crane systems. The first design, a Louden Litter Carrier, hauled dairy cattle waste out of a barn. However, a modernized overhead traveling crane system became his most recognized invention. With this concept, Louden built material handling devices for the industrial market, and he was chosen to construct systems for use with atomic bombs for World War Two in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  In the early sixties, Louden earned a contract to handle NASA’s Apollo space booster rocket in Huntsville, Alabama.

History Comes Alive In Fairfield, Iowa, At Maasdam Barns

In 1906, Jacob Maasdam arrived in Fairfield with 47 Percheron horses and a Shetland pony for his prestigious draft-horse breeding business. Many of Louden’s most popular labor-saving inventions are displayed at the Maasdam Barns. Take a step back in time for an early 20th-century rural Iowa experience. Both barns, designed by the Louden barn division, boast intriguing Louden barn designs and innovations.

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Shop At The World-Renown Overland Sheepskin Co.

Originally from Tecumseh, Nebraska, Jim Leahy and his future wife, Leslie, took a road trip in 1973 to New Mexico to explore colleges. This leg of their road trip would take them to Sante Fe, yet they never made it. On the road again after refueling in Taos, they realized they left the gas cap on the bumper. They turned around, went back to Taos, and didn’t leave.

Instead of exploring colleges, they decided to work together. Jim and his future wife Leslie began their business by designing and making coats by hand in their van. With a bale of sheepskins and a sewing machine, they sold two to three coats at a time on the streets, then made two or three more, repeating the cycle. 

The business took off faster than they anticipated, and they opened their first store in Taos. After opening several stores stocked with premium sheepskin products in the Rocky Mountain Region and starting a mail-order catalog, they moved their headquarters to Fairfield, Iowa. They built a large three-story log cabin for their home and employee offices. 

Overland Sheepskin Company’s connection to Fairfield begins with Jerry Leahy, Jim’s father, who helped acquire the Maharishi International University Fairfield campus in 1974. He became a teacher and held the title of MIU’s VP of administration. 

Now known as Overland, the successful sheepskin and leather company has seventeen locations, many of which are in the Rocky Mountains. They will happily accommodate customers in their Fairfield Store located at the same log cabin-style headquarters east of town on Highway 34. 

Tip: If you want to try items for fit, call one to two days before your visit to ensure they’re in stock. If not, they will bring them from the warehouse and have them waiting at the store for you.

Final Thoughts

Fairfield is not a typical Iowa small town. People have pulled up stakes to settle in a town that offers unique multicultural experiences, small business innovation, and plenty of opportunities supporting individual expression. Residents make Fairfield an outstanding tourist destination for an out-of-the-ordinary adventure from out-of-the-ordinary people.

Get away from cities for a relaxing break to experience an easy-going, welcoming community that’s family-friendly and without traffic. You’ll be surprised at how this laid-back small town offers big-city highlights. Fairfield might be the best town you’ve never heard of, providing endless opportunities for a great getaway.