by Tim Brechlin

Up the winding curves of Peru Road, out in what some may call the wilderness, resides an estate renowned for exemplifying the sense of service, collaboration and community that is a core component of what makes the Tri-States, well, the Tri-States. In addition to its work and offerings, the land upon which it sits is, well, breathtaking. We're talking, of course, about the Four Mounds Estate, currently celebrating the 100th anniversary of its original construction by George Burden and his wife, Viola, as a gentleman's farm -- now the last remaining intact gentleman's farm in the state of Iowa.

The Four Mounds Estate, so named for the four ancient Woodland Indian burial mounds on the property, is one of the most storied locations in Dubuque. But it's far more than a collection of structures set to great scenery. No, what goes on at Four Mounds is so much more than that.

We at 365 sat down with Four Mounds staff to get a little more insight as to the goings-on at this nearly 60-acre historic location that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with one hundred years of the Grey House and more than twenty years of the Four Mounds Foundation.

"The entire mission of the Four Mounds Foundation is to preserve and educate," says executive director Christine Olson, who took upon the position in 2004. "[Landowner] Elizabeth Burden donated Four Mounds to the City of Dubuque upon her death in 1982, and her intention was for the City to make Four Mounds available to the public for educational purposes. So everything we do falls under that."

Of course, things didn't just happen overnight -- it wasn't as though the land was donated and the foundation was established the next day.

"By 1987, our organization had formed, and the land was bequeathed in 1982," Olson continues. "What had happened in-between was 'Last one to leave Dubuque please turn the lights off,' the City Council and the Mayor didn't have the resources to maintain Four Mounds, it was in a state of disrepair ... it was a very bad economic time, and there wasn't an endowment for the property, and buildings were being threatened with demolition."

To save the land from such a fate, members of the Burden family (including developer John Gronen, himself a grandson of Elizabeth Burden, and his family) and like-minded members of the community came together and formed a non-profit organization to manage the property.

"Essentially, they went to the City and they said, 'We'll take it off your hands, and you don't have to do anything,'" says Olson. "So while the City still owns the land, we maintain a long-term lease, and we are entirely responsible for its upkeep and operations."

The foundation does quite a bit towards the operations end of things, between making the site open to the public 365 days a year, its inn and conference center, one of the region's premier ropes courses, as well as its active youth programs.

Naturally, the first question that everyone had to answer upon assuming management of the estate was: What to do with it? Turning the Grey House into the Four Mounds Inn & Conference Center was a logical first step.

"We had a massive house that was in disrepair," says Olson, "and we knew that it would be a significant burden upon Four Mounds if we were to try to maintain it without generating revenue from it. So it's been restored and renovated, and it's open for public and private functions, meetings, events ... and, of course, we have the seven rooms that are open to guests, and we have several repeat guests who come multiple times a year."

Beyond the conference center, Four Mounds' youth programs were another early initiative of the foundation, and by 1995, the Youth Empowerment Services program was in full swing. The program also has an offshoot, HEART, which stands for Housing Education and Rehabilitation Training Project -- a project aimed at rehabbing and repairing houses in the Washington Street neighborhood.

"There was both a need in the community to provide opportunities for at-risk youth, and also an interest on the part of the founding members of the foundation in doing so," says Olson of the roots of the youth programs. "There was an incredible resource here, and there were a ton of restoration projects to be done, and it presented a great experience and vocational training that kids wouldn't get anywhere else."

Inn and conference center manager Marie FitzGerald agrees, "Some kids who grow up in apartment buildings and don't have a backyard, you know, they go through life and don't know how to turn on a lawnmower. Out here, they get weedwhackers, lawn trimmers, they can learn to drive a tractor and mow the grass, all sorts of different things."

The Foundation has partnerships in place with and works alongside other organizations, including AmeriCorps, the Dubuque Community School District, the City of Dubuque and others, and Dubuque Schools students are selected from those ranks to come to Four Mounds for a new educational perspective. Children in the Juvenile Court Services system are also brought to Four Mounds, as well. It's been working, too: People who have had experiences at Four Mounds have come back as volunteers for various programs, students have come back as groundskeepers, daycare workers, and more.

"For example," says Olson, "our job coach, Ron, was out with his wife in Galena one day and he saw a carpenters' union picket line ... he looked closer and he realized that he had two of his students from the year before on the picket line! So these students are learning the trades and then moving on to actually work in these trades and build a life."

Part of what makes the program work for the students, according to FitzGerald, is simply the approach taken by Four Mounds staff and volunteers.

"With kids coming in from the courts, for example, we don't hold that over their heads or talk down to them about it," she says. "That's not our job. We're here to support the kids and work with them, and it helps to have someone treating them differently." Four Mounds brings in 30 - 40 at-risk youths daily, and some might think that, given the somewhat remote location of the property, the estate would be ripe for vandalism. Not so, says Olson.

"Students at Four Mounds get a lot of responsibility, and these are kids who don't really get that chance," she says. "They come here, they work here, in a sense they partner with the grounds, and as a result, they respect it."

Being a non-profit organization in charge of such a large area doesn't come inexpensively, however, and Four Mounds management has often had to utilize what Olson describes as "creative" methods to generate income.

"We pay our own employees, and we're not on the City budget," she explains. "House museums across the country are difficult to maintain and keep going, and, frankly, we're not in a major metropolitan area and this isn't Georgia O'Keefe's house. What it is, however, is part of a family that is important to Dubuque and it's the last remaining intact gentleman's farm in Iowa. In 1908, this property was cutting-edge."

It's absolutely true that there is a lot of history here; take a walk through the property and you can see the chauffeur's house (the upper yellow house), the hog shed built for Burden son Bill (who raised specialty hogs not for sale, but rather to explore the best practices of raising hogs in the Midwest) -- later restored, and many more. This land, which was cutting-edge for 1908, has stories to tell, and that's part of what makes the job fun for Olson.

"I have a background in historic preservation, and Four Mounds is a small organization," she says. "We do an enormous amount of programming, from the Inn to the park and HEART and all those things. We do a broad range of work under the umbrella of Four Mounds, and that always-changing challenge, and being able to meet the needs and partner with community organizations is exciting to me. Being able to work with preservation and youth at the same time ... it has a lot of appeal."

Looking ahead, Four Mounds' plans include an expansion of the HEART program, expanding interpretive signage throughout the property, more lodging at the White House, and as Olson says, there are always restoration projects moving forward. Oh, and what about that notoriously long and winding road leading up to the property? Well, that's on the schedule, too ... although Olson promises that the road will still remain long, winding and curvy.

"We're going to make some of the curves wider, to give more room to turn and the like, and we're going to be filling in the ditch some," she says, "but Four Mounds is all about slowing down, stepping back and taking your time. The roadway is kind of the first step of that."

For more information about the Four Mounds Foundation at 4900 Peru Road, call 563-557-7292; for more information about the Inn & Conference Center, call 563-556-1908. Or, for more information about everything that is Four Mounds, simply log on to the brand-new Web site at www.fourmounds.org -- designed by 365!