Upon entering Eureka Springs, via HiWay 23 North, one's attention in invariably drawn to the unique, strange round building at the intersection of Hillside and North Main, which reflects a part of the city's history.

The structure is rather large in that it is fifty feet in diameter and is a two-story construction giving it a massive appearance. Mysteriously, history has failed to document an exact date when this remarkable structure was erected, or its original purpose.

Franzisca Massman, a very colorful female character, who was a sawmill operator, was the first person to gain legal title to the land where it sits in 1882. Other companies that had title to the land following her were the Eureka Springs Railroad Company, the Eureka Springs Improvement Company, Interstate Gas Company, and the Eureka Springs Gas Light Company (which was an unsuccessful endeavor to provide an electrical lighting system for Eureka Springs).

William Duncan obtained a deed to this property in 1904 under the name of the Eureka Springs Water Company. William also operated the Eureka Springs Stone Company, which quarried the native limestone that was believed to have been used and to build the Round House at this time. William suffered a number of financial misfortunes and was forced to dispose of real estate holdings including this house.

During the next two decades it was used as many things including a one-time soda pop bottling operation. In 1930 Richard Thompson acquired and used it for distributing Ozarks Water (mineral water taken from the many springs of the city).

On Nov. 18, 1966 Thompson sold the Ozarks Water Company, thus for an extended period of time the historic "Round House" sat empty, unused, awaiting a new owner with a new vision. It sat 'an empty reminder of Eureka Springs' past, and like the town itself, it awaits a future yet to unfold.'

In 1994, according to records in the Carroll County Courthouse it is owned by Michael and Janet Aycock, of Bedford, Texas.