Generations of Des Moines real estate — and the family that saved Terrace Hill.
Frederick Marion (F. M.) Hubbell (1839–1930) arrived in Des Moines as a teenager and built a 75-year business empire in real estate, insurance, and railroads. In the 1860s and 1870s he assembled a downtown real-estate portfolio, including the industrial “Factory Addition.”
With his partner in Polk & Hubbell, he financed the first streetcar line in Des Moines in 1866 and helped organize a narrow-gauge railroad toward Ames.
The Hubbell family estate trust (established 1903) had grown to roughly $200 million when it was distributed among 13 heirs in 1983. Hubbell's businesses are privately held; current family figures are not publicly disclosed.
Hubbell purchased Terrace Hill, the grandest mansion in Des Moines, and his descendants lived there for more than 70 years. In 1971 the family donated Terrace Hill to the State of Iowa — a gift that saved it from demolition and made it the official Iowa Governor's residence.
In 1903 F. M. Hubbell established a family estate trust that lasted until 1983; by then it had grown to roughly $200 million and was distributed among 13 heirs.
The Hubbell family is based in Des Moines, Iowa. One of Iowa's oldest family enterprises; Hubbell remains a major Des Moines developer
1860s.
Frederick Marion Hubbell (1839–1930) — founder of the family enterprise
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