A three-bedroom, three-bath house just 45 minutes south of Des Moines, Iowa, this fully-renovated 1880 brick home is for sale. The perfect place to escape the city life and relax in the countryside, the property includes ten acres of rolling farm land and a quarter-acre pond.
Southern Iowa is quickly becoming one of the Midwest's most popular fishing and game areas with many nature preserves and open countryside. The home sits on paved road just 3/4-mile from the interstate (I-35) at Exit 22. Going west, the road becomes gravel and leads to several hunting reserve areas.
Check out the photos and, if interested, contact the listing agent:
Nancy Johnson
nancyjhomes@yahoo.com
515-710-0474
Specialist in Acreages & Horse Properties
http://www.centraliowaacreages.com/
RE/MAX West Realty, Inc.
515-987-7552
204 Hwy 6, Waukee, IA 50263
Licensed to sell real estate in Iowa
Rural Life in an Elegant Setting
THIS historic brick building was built in 1880 and once served as a stage stop for the mail carriers who rode ponies across southern Iowa from Kansas City, Missouri to Omaha, Nebraska. It is also reputed to have been a hideout for the liquor runners who were always one step ahead of the temperance movement's organizations. This group of citizens' anti-liquor work led to Prohibition and bathtub gin.
The closest town, which is two miles east and on the other side of the interstate highway, is like many rural Iowa towns, just a quiet bedroom community. It still has its own post office and community center, but the locals gather at either at the casino just 11 miles north or at small neighboring taverns that give the area character.
Set on ten acres of rolling farm land, the house is surrounded by porches on all four sides, with three connecting to include a private garden area, a large south-facing deck, and an enclosed hot tub area. The front porch faces north and faces a breathless view of open farm land.
The East Porch is enclosed with a privacy fence and two gates. Inside, this gravel yard has a hot tub and space for a pool. The gravel driveway leads up from the road and turns into a u-shaped walk and back to a second gravel driveway on the west side of the house.
The West Porch faces a small fenced garden area with bird houses and feeders. Hummingbirds, goldfinches, bluebirds, and butterflies brighten your morning coffee time.
The South Deck faces the acreage including a walnut grove and the start of a vine garden area in the shade of the trees. In the distance, the stocked pond can be seen, too!
Welcome to the StageStop!
IT’S a well-known fact that Americans are over-worked and under-rested. We have driven ourselves to the brink of exhaustion with our frantic schedules and determination to do everything and do it well.But there comes a time when nothing but the peace and tranquility of a day in the country can take our minds off the constant demands of our technological world. There is something about a calm country setting, the span of open fields all around us, the distant creak of an abandoned windmill, and even the sound of birds singing in the trees, that can put us back in touch with ourselves, our loved ones, and the beauty of the natural world around us.
From the times of medieval Europe, the families who could afford to do so took their holidays at country homes where the noise of the city, the parade of guests, and the business of running a household could be forgotten for a short while.
Today’s couples often seek respite in the form of week-long vacations to Hawaii or Las Vegas. But as everyone knows, many of us return from such vacations more exhausted than when we left home! How many times have you heard someone say, “I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!”? Now there is a solution for when you must escape, even if only for the weekend, a place where you can forget all your worries and responsibilities, where you can sleep with the windows open and listen to the hoot owl and the crickets sing your good night song. Here at the StageStop, you can once again take in the vast night sky and its million and one stars, the bright moon, the sunrise and the sunset, all the more vivid in the absence of city lights.
This country escape is available to you, just one hour south of Des Moines and two hours north of Kansas City. The sense of relief is tangible even as you head down the interstate toward open country.
Finding peace in a quiet place
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front
only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn
what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived. - Henry David Thoreau
Not the same place it used to be
WHEN the property was first acquired by the proprietor in 2005, it appeared to be beyond hope and many of the locals expected to see it razed.The owner's first task was to remove all of the existing windows and doors, most of which were broken and falling apart. New insulated doors and windows were installed throughout the house before the first winter.
Before the second winter, every wall and ceiling had been either repaired or replaced and insulation was finally added to the attic and walls.
Before the third winter, a new heat ducting system was installed, a third bathroom intalled upstairs and decks and porches were installed in the style of the period.
TODAY, the first floor includes a large sitting room/parlor, a bedroom, two baths, a large eat-in kitchen, a back porch (for chest freezer or pantry), and four exit doors: east, west, south, and north. The living room is set up for conversation and family entertainment, the bedroom is decorated in a cozy Old West-style with embroidered and beaded drapes and a double-bed, and is connected to a modern bathroom with a stall shower and stained glass windows.In the summer, a large wading pool can be set up next to the hot tub… all in complete privacy.
ONE aspect of the house that has been a consistent pleasure is the scenery. The sunsets, sunrises, snow scenes, and even ice storms give the house its own special charm that only be appreciated by those who take the time to sit and enjoy them.
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