My goodness, it has been a long time since I've posted to this blog. I have big news --- after more than 10 years, we are leaving Belleve, Iowa, for another Iowa town, even more northerly than this one!
That means the Setzephandt House is on the market. Here is the listing http://associated-re.idxbroker.com/idx/details/listing/a654/144846/609-N-2nd-Street-Bellevue-IA-52031 You will love the mix of old and new within this historical house. From the striking exterior with its copper finial and wrap porch to the numerous bay windows, you can imagine the builder of this 1880s home carefully considered each detail. Inside, many original elements remain, such as the interior staircase and woodworking details. The house has been thoroughly updated where it counts, including plumbing and electrical systems, and central air conditioning. The spacious kitchen includes a Wolf cooktop with infrared red grill, a stainless-steel farm sink, quartz countertops, and custom cabinets. The backyard is inviting, with its concrete patio, and a powder-coated steel spiral staircase leading to a second story Trex deck with views of the Mississippi River.

Record Cold Iowa Winter

As we've heard, this has been the coldest winter in northeast Iowa in 35 years. Ah yes, 1979, I remember you well. Anyway, in addition to the cold, we've had some snow. Actually, we've had even more snow since Ron took this photo about a month ago.
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The finale: holiday open house

The house renovation is far enough along that we were able to include the Setzepfandt house in the annual Holiday Tour. This event is a benefit for the area Chamber of Commerce, and we were proud to participate. Here are a few photos of how the house looked just before guests arrived. Wish I could say it still looks this good now!

Front porch restoration

We realized that repairing the old front porch piecemeal was not a good approach. Not only were the floor boards rotting, the columns themselves were sagging and the whole thing was a big mess. So Ron and Marty took a week or so jacking up the porch, removing floorboards, discovering & replacing rotted or insufficient support lumber underneath. I helped with staining the replacement boards and placing the lattice. Here's the way it looks now.

Pilgrim's progress

Apparently I only blog on major holidays, based on the fact that my last post was New Years Day. We pilgrims to the Midwest have made great progress, thanks to carpentry help from Marty Jess of Bellevue, and the dogged painting skills of Al Thielen and his crew: JR, Laurie, Mitch, Dustin & others who dropped in to work a few days or even a few hours. We appreciate it immensely. Here are a few scenes from the last several months.

Our second New Year

We have marked our second round of "the holidays" here in the Setzepfandt House in Bellevue. No fireplace to cuddle around but a twinkling Christmas tree, a warm sofa and a snuggly dog make up for it. Last year we didn't have enough of the house in place to really decorate.

This year we did a little better. Next year, look out!

Remodeled Guest Room and Revisited Blog

This morning I received an email from Scott Setzepfandt, a great-grandson of Gustav and Marie, the originally family in our home.It was so nice to hear that he was pleased were moving the house along. That reminded me I hadn't posted any pictures of our guest room yet. We've already had three groups of guests but we hope we've not exhausted the possibilities yet. Here's a photo.