Article I've written about a bed and breakfast in Bellevue that was converted into a beautiful home. Part of my real estate SEO services is to write in depth about the homes being sold.

Improving With Age

by Scott Salwolke

Few residential homes in Iowa are listed with the National Register of Historic Places.  Even fewer can boast Abraham Lincoln as a house guest.  Yet, what makes this eastern Iowa home truly unique is the transformation the home recently underwent.

Penny and Dave had never been to Bellevue when they traveled there to visit relatives.  On the way into town they couldn't help but notice the beautiful mansion up on a hill.  Intrigued, they traveled up the lane and, in a moment of serendipity, found it was for sale.

Upon purchasing the home, the Norths had two goals---to restore as much of the home's original look as possible, and to expand the living space.

Built in 1850 for William Wynkoop, the home has undergone many changes throughout its history.  In the 1930s, Czech immigrants purchased the home and built a pillow factory on the site.  In the sixties, more renovations occurred, and, finally, in the nineties, it became a bed and breakfast, meaning additional bedrooms and baths were required.

Situated on 40 beautiful acres, the house was designed to reflect the wealth of the original owners. This began with the limestone rocks that were used for the exterior.  As was the practice of the time, the best stones were used in the front.  And with the additions to the home, the Norths hoped to replicate this look.  After much exploration, they found a quarry in Galena with similar stones.  Eventually, over 18 tons of stone were brought in.

"Our architect tried to remain faithful to the original design," said Penny.  "This included adding a second tower to replicate the home's original central tower, a defining feature of Gothic Cottage architecture."

One thing that is different from the home's original interior is the choice of colors.

"We had only a few pictures of the original interior and tried to remain true to a lot of it," said Penny.  "We did some research on the period colors, but they weren't our style. The period colors were very dark.  One way to show your wealth was through the use of these darker colors.  Paint was very expensive and the more pigment in color, the more expensive the paint."

Another deviation from the original design was the addition of closets.  When the home was first built, there was just one closet and it was something of a status symbol.

"In the 1850s, people were taxes according to the number of rooms they had, and closets were considered rooms," explained Penny. "So, if you wanted to display your wealth, you would feature one closet in the entry of your house, maybe leaving the door ajar, so visitors could see it."

The house had no air conditioning and was heated by an old boiler.  Central heating and air ducts were installed, cleverly hidden in lighted cove ceilings.  The original master bedroom has been restored, although two tiny additional bathrooms and another bedroom have been transformed into a grand bathroom and large walk-in closet to complete the suite.

With its hilltop setting, the home affords a breathtaking view of the Mississippi.  This is no more evident than in the master bedroom, where, in the past, one could keep an eye out for the return of loved ones.  The river also may have influenced the use of long grain yellow pine for the flooring.

"The use of this wood is very unusual for the time, because it came from the Southeast," Dave explained.  "Paying to have such a large amount of wood hauled this far up the river would have been prohibitively expensive.  Wynkoop was a merchant, and he might have bartered with a barge traveling through that had to get rid of the wood.  We kept as much of the original flooring as possible."

What is now a guest bedroom is the room that Abraham Lincoln is believed to have slept in. 

"When Lincoln was a defense attorney, he worked both sides of the Mississippi.  Bellevue, being well established by that time, provided some of his clients.  He would dine with the Wynkoop family, discussing law with Mr. Wynkoop and his attorney son, and spend the night.

A conservatory seamlessly joins the original home to the new addition, turning what was once a galley kitchen into a spectacular Great Room.  Here, guests can enjoy the scenery outside or a night gaze up at the stars.

From the conservatory, one travels along the art hall, past the exercise room and craft room, to the theater.

If closets were a sign of wealth in the past, then an in-home theater represents luxury today.  Requiring the coordination of architect, carpenter, designer, and audio/visual technicians, this high tech room is remarkably simple to operate.  With the touch of a button, the room darkens and the velvet drapes part to reveal the big screen, and the movie begins.

The three-story spiral staircase winds through a central tower to the attic, where to guest suites from the bed and breakfast remain as guest rooms.  The most unusual room in the attic is the Paul McCartney bathroom, where sheet music of McCartney songs papers the walls.

The landscape lighting company has won a national award for their work on the home, and several other subcontractors are submitting their work for industry recognition.
It seems hard to believe that a home over 150 years old would actually improve with age. Yet, this home certainly has. It’s not just a testament to the work of the current homeowners, but also to the home’s original design.