Chris Rye was a Mason City contractor who constructed many of the houses in the Rock Crest - Rock Glen development, the Brick and Tile Building, The Good Shepherd and the Stockman House, as well as many other building in the North Iowa vicinity.

He built his brick and stucco house in 1915.

The Chris Rye House has also been known as the Enoch and Odella (Rye) Norem House, Odella being the daughter of Chris and Olava Rye. Enoch was the city editor, later the managing editor, of the Globe Gazette.

The Chris Rye House was placed in the National Register of Historic Places on January 29, 1980.