The history of Mayflower Home began in 1948 when Royal J. Montgomery retired from his position as superintendent of the Congregational-Christian Conference of Iowa, a position be had held for over a decade. Dr. Montgomery first came to the Iowa Conference staff in 1919 as director of religious education and served in that capacity, with one brief interruption, for twenty years. Consequently he was known throughout the Iowa Congregational fellowship, and he knew generations of young people in the churches as well as their parents and grandparents.

When he retired in 1948, he was not content to sit idly by, indulging himself in retirement pastimes. Although he and his wife were living comfortably in the house they had built at 819 Ninth Avenue in Grinnell, close to the college and to the Conference headquarters (on the college campus), both realized that eventually they would need to simplify their living arrangements. Dr. Montgomery also was aware that other Congregational ministers and their wives were not as fortunate as he and Margaret were. For the most part, these ministers and their wives had spent their active years in the ministry living in church-owned houses; their pensions at that time were less than adequate and they had no place to go when they retired. These were couples who had given their lives in selfless service to the church but who were now doomed to "genteel poverty." In addition to the retired ministers, there were retired missionaries returning to live in the United States. These, too, had never owned a house of their own; they had no place to live once they left the mission field.

The perfect partner for Dr. Montgomery's dream of a retirement home in Iowa was Margaret Montgomery. She was a home economist who was distinguished in her field - she taught for many years in the home economics department of Kansas State College. Margaret co-authored a textbook on nutrition and as a scholar was qualified to investigate retirement homes and the new field of gerontology.

Together, the Montgomerys spent some time after his retirement visiting established retirement homes and doing research on ways to create an environment that would be congenial and stimulating not only for retired ministers and missionaries but for other like minded couples and individuals.

They came to the decision that they would offer to sell their own house and lot in order to start a fund for the proposed home which would be located in Grinnell. Grinnell was a logical choice because, until Conference head quarters was moved to Des Moines in the early 1960s, Grinnell had been the center of Iowa Congregationalism with close ties to the college and Grinnell Church. Conference offices were located in the college administration building for many years; Grinnell's first Congregational Church (the "Old Stone Church") was the largest one in Iowa when it was built and the seat of annual meetings for many years. In addition to its strong Congregationalism, the town offered medical facilities, two hospitals, two libraries, college events of all kinds, churches, stores and a friendly small town atmosphere. For all of these reasons, the inclination of the Montgomerys was to try to build their retirement home in Grinnell.

What was lacking was not the will but the means for making their dream a reality. It so happened that one evening in August 1949, they went to pay a visit of condolence to a staunch member of the Grinnell church, Ferdinand J. Kiesel, whose wife had died a few days before. In the course of their conversation, Mr. Kiesel expressed his concern over his own future. The large Victorian house that had been the family home for himself and his wife, as well as for their son Paul until his marriage, was much too full of memories and possessions to continue to be the home he had known for many years. Sensing his dilemma, the Montgomerys told him about their own plan to sell their house and found a retirement home.