3601 14th St

This is the first house that was nominated and designated from Rock Island’s Hill Crest / Watch Hill area. The Eichelsdoerfer House was built in 1936 of concrete ashlar block and has a distinctive steeply pitched roof. The house has prominent quoins and sills and has an asymmetrical facade. It was constructed with architect Rudolph Sandberg’s girderless rib slab construction, which he invented. This unusual construction premiered in 1933's “House of the Future” at 2447 30th Street, Moline. Sandberg used it in many residences and other buildings in the 1930s and 1940s, including some University of Iowa buildings. Sandberg designed an impressive number of well-known buildings in Rock Island, including St. Pius X Catholic Church (structural design), the old junior high school across from the school district administration building, Denkmann School, Thoms House, Quad City Coca Cola Bottling Plant (now MidAmerican Energy), Klockau House and many others. He is also credited with the magnificent terra cotta designs for the Fort Armstrong Theatre (Circa ‘21) and the Illinois Oil Products Building.