Benjamin Warren Dodson, son of Captain and Harriet Warren Dodson, built the magnificent home at 416 S. Second St. in Geneva in 1891. Chicago architect W.W. Clay designed and constructed the house of native limestone and prairie rock, aptly named “Fieldstone.”

The house contained nine bedrooms, three baths, four fireplaces, a very large dining room paneled with red birch, a billiard room and music room, but no garage. A stone wall surrounded the two-acre property, which included a gardener’s cottage also built of stone.

For some time after the house was constructed, Mr. Dodson set aside Friday evenings for groups of friends to gather at his home to enjoy informal musical programs and to hear papers on the early life of the community.

Investors bought “Fieldstone” in 1919, and developed it into the three-story Geneva Community Hospital by 1925. It replaced the Colonial Hospital that had outgrown its location on Third Street and remained a hospital until 1991. Developer Kent Shodeen bought the property in 1993 and eventually created “Dodson Place,” anchored by this historic home.

Visit www.GenevaHistoryMuseum.org for information on the Geneva History Museum's April 8 program on riverstone buildings in the Tri-Cities.