Tink, does your source say where the photo was taken? I traveled to Winterset a few times in the five years I lived in Iowa, where he was born...they even have the house set aside as a memorial, now!
And even now, Winterset is a small, extremely pretty town, and rural too, far from any larger town -- like many towns in Iowa. Being raised in a small town myself (Washington State), I was almost surprised at how much I felt at home in the Iowa countryside.
Small towns much the same everywhere, I suppose. So I am wondering if this photo was taken in Winterset! He is standing in front of a wall of big stones, which do tend to inform Iowa architecture. They used what was available for building material, which meant stones more than timber. Winterset is the county seat, and the courthouse there is really quite lovely.
I do remember that a tornado hit Winterset while I was in Iowa; bad one too, took off a few roofs there...oh, and it turns out that Wikipedia has a photo of the Madison County courthouse, sits at the center of town, with the whole town built around it...here you go!
