THE CRESTON HOUSE The Creston House was originally a hotel. It is actually two buildings which were joined together. The South Side was built in 1880 -and actually included the building to the South, 219 South Main, as well. The Creston House was built by Max Mohn, who came to Council Bluffs in 1869 from Germany as a shoemaker. In 1884, the North Side was built. The three story addition cost $15,000.00. It gave the Creston House 75 sleeping rooms with steam heat. The going rate was $1.50 per night. There was no common wall on the back sides, to allow natural light and air into the rooms. The Creston House was closed for three years from 1892 -1895 for renovations, including the fire escape and a standpipe for all three floors to allow fire hoses to bring water to all floors if needed. This was the concept of a very early sprinkler system. From 1923-1941, W.E. Clark was listed as the owner of the hotel. Sometime thereafter, the 2nd and 3rd floors were converted to apartments. In 1943, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) acquired the building and the first floor was used for their VFW Club for about ten (10) years. In 1953, Sam Sacks acquired the property and opened Sam's Supermarket. The 2nd & 3rd Floor apartments were condemned and closed in the late 1960's. The grocery store continued at this location until 1978. In 1978, the first floor of the property was converted into offices which were occupied by the State of Iowa Offices -Child Support Recovery and Adult Probation. In the late 1970's, the upper floors were condemned and not used again. In 1984, Kenneth Sacks and his law partners moved into the building's first floor and operated their law office. Kenneth retired in 1990 and his law partners purchased the building and continued their law practice there until the renovation of the building began in 2008. The Creston House is a building of FIRSTS for Council Bluffs, boasting the * First Stone Front on the building * First Concrete Sidewalk * First (and only hotel at the time) Fire Escape * First Standpipe for Fire Safety * The 2010 complete renovations included: * Elevator from the ground level to the third floor * Restoration of the Historic Grand Staircase-front entry * New Fire Escape * Restoration of the Brick Exterior * All new electrical and plumbing * All new windows * New HVAC Systems throughout the building * First Class Office Space, parking & storage available * Approximately 3500 square feet each on 2nd & 3rd Floors, approximately 4000 on 1st Floor