Wood, who observed the house only twice in his lifetime, made only an initial sketch of the house—he completed American Gothic at his studio in Cedar Rapids.

[4] Charles A. Dibble (born 1836 in Saratoga County, New York), by various accounts a railroad man,[5] livery stable owner,[6] and Civil War veteran,[7] lived in Eldon in the late nineteenth century.

Its relatively simple board-and-batten siding, white color, and moderate size—just 504 square feet (46.8 m2)—were quite common in nineteenth century Iowa architecture.

A similar style can be observed in the birthplace of President Herbert Hoover in West Branch, built a decade before the American Gothic House, which features board-and-batten siding, a simple shingled roof, a central chimney, white color, and a moderate size as well.

[9] There are two commonly accepted theories: the Dibbles may have wanted the windows to beautify their home at a time when rural life in Iowa was a struggle, or they could have been following a trend in which extravagant details were desirable in residences in the late nineteenth century, and the Dibbles chose windows whose costs would have been relatively reasonable at the time.

[6] The Dibbles' house was foreclosed around 1897 after they were unable to pay their taxes, and they are recorded as living in Portland, Oregon, in the 1900 Census.

[6] During the summer of 1930, Edward Rowan, a young gallery director from Cedar Rapids, a large city approximately 80 miles (130 km) to the northeast of Eldon, attempted to promote fine arts in the rural town by opening a gallery and library and leading art classes in Eldon.

His earliest biographer, Darrell Garwood, noted that Wood "thought it a form of borrowed pretentiousness, a structural absurdity, to put a Gothic-style window in such a flimsy frame house.

"[14] At the time, Wood classified it as one of the "cardboardy [sic] frame houses on Iowa farms" and considered it "very paintable.

"[13] After obtaining the permission of the Jones family, Wood made a sketch the next day in oil on paperboard from the house's front yard.

A visit in 1960 to the house (which was beginning to fall into disrepair) by Des Moines architect and historian William J. Wagner, A.I.A.