Edith Renfrow Smith’s childhood home, located at 411 1st Ave, southwest of downtown Grinnell, is on the market for $149,900, or $118 per square foot.
Smith, well known as the first Black woman to graduate from Grinnell College, grew up living in the house from 1923 to 1937, when she graduated from Grinnell College.
Smith’s mother, Eva P. Renfrow, owned the house from the early 1920s until she died in 1962.
The property remained with the Smith children until 1969, when they signed it over to Smith, who then owned the home until 2004.
Built in 1900, the house has undergone interior changes since Smith’s childhood, though the original windows remain from her time growing up there.
The two-story house sits atop a gentle rise. Its beige exterior is paired with a green metal roof. A narrow staircase, bordered by grasses and wildflowers, leads past a retaining wall to a covered front porch with a simple railing and chairs. Windows of different sizes are set into the facade, reflecting changes made to the house over time.
While Smith was living in the house, the kitchen was the dining area in the center of the first floor. It currently consists of a wooden round table, a cabinet with all the glassware, and an open barrel holding wines by the wall.
There also originally stood two porches, a large one in the back of the house and a smaller one on the front facing the street. The larger porch was completely enclosed and remodeled into a kitchen with new cabinets and a sink.
Other noticeable changes have been the installation of new flooring, a remodeled metal roof, woodwork on the cabinets and the wall structure, which was layered with sheetrock.
The house includes a small, narrow bathroom. Behind the dining room, a separate living room has an open area. There are three bedrooms in the property.
A detached garage with four parking spaces comes with the property just outside the back door of the house.
