Rowat Lofts presents · a field guide
The quiet end of the East Village — the river at your shoulder, the ballpark across the water, and under your feet the yard where a Scottish stonecutter’s company cut this city’s stone for 135 years. His crane still stands in the courtyard.
Est. 1882·Last cut 2017·41.585° N, 93.609° W
Scroll ↓Cut one · 1872
John Rowat lands in Des Moines from Scotland and takes the best work a stonecutter could want: the new State Capitol, rising on the east hill. For years the dome you can see from this neighborhood’s rooftops was, in part, his day job.
Cut two · 1882
The Capitol done, Rowat goes into business for himself — granite, limestone and marble, when most yards settled for one. The works set up south of Court Avenue, in the industrial flats between the rail lines and the river. You are, right now, on the property.
Cut three · the long middle
The company passes from John to his son, and from his son to his. For over a century, when Des Moines needed something to last — a cornerstone, a monument, a building front — the order went through this yard. Stone is patient work; so were they.
Cut four · 2017
After 135 years, the company leaves the flats for Norwalk — not gone, just moved; they cut stone to this day. What stayed behind was the site, the name, and one piece of equipment nobody had the heart to scrap.
Cut five · the conversion
When the lofts rose on the yard — 162 of them, micro to two-bedroom, brick and metal and cedar — the old stone derrick that swung blocks around this property for generations was salvaged and rebuilt in the courtyard. Most buildings buy sculpture. This one inherited its own.
Cut six · now
Downtown across one bridge, the East Village six blocks up, the ballpark close enough to hear the crowd — and thirteen Friday nights a summer, fireworks over the river you can watch from the rooftop. The loud parts of the city are all nearby. None of them are on top of you.
The rest of this guide is the neighborhood, drawn to plan.
The Market District, drawn like a mason’s site plan — every place real and open as of September 2026, walk-timed from the courtyard. Flip to Game Night when the Cubs are home.
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Fifteen hours from the quiet end — market to fireworks, all on foot.
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Iowa Cubs baseball returns across the water — Friday first pitch at 7:08, fireworks after, thirteen times a summer. The rooftop is a box seat.
The Farmers’ Market opens on Court Avenue — an eight-minute walk over the bridge, Saturdays 7 to noon through late October.
Independence-week fireworks doubleheader at the ballpark — two nights, both after 7:08 games. Invite people up.
The Village up the street runs shows most nights — Wooly’s, the rooftop bars, the courtyard grills right here at home.
Market Saturdays wind down October 25; the river walk turns gold; the theater room starts earning its keep.
Brenton Skating Plaza is a twelve-minute walk up the riverfront. The theater room, courtyard firepits and a building full of amenities cover the rest. Stone winters well; so does this place.
GroceriesThe full Hy-Vee at Fourth + Court is a nine-minute walk across the bridge, open 7 to 9 daily. The Village’s shops cover the small runs six blocks north.
Getting aroundDowntown is one bridge west on foot; the East Village core is six blocks north; DART’s Central Station is ten minutes; the airport is twelve by car. You live at the hinge of all of it.
The buildingNine-to-eleven-foot ceilings, big windows, in-unit laundry, a theater room, a pet washing station, and a rooftop clubhouse pointed at the skyline and the fireworks. Furnished units come and go — ask.
The quiet partThis is the end of the Village where the nights belong to you. The trade: you walk five extra minutes to the loud parts, and then you walk home away from them.