From 'cheap, old farm house,' to dream home

Bob and Vanessa Hesseltine moves her grandparents' house a mile down the road to become hobby farm

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Creating a dream home takes work, time and money.

But Bob and Vanessa Hesseltine employed patience, bargain-hunting skills and hundreds of hours of hard work to create their hobby farm home on about five acres on the border of the West Liberty and Wilton school districts, just off U.S. Route 6 at 2167 Lange Ave. in rural Atalissa.

It didn’t hurt that their land was provided to them and the couple was granted an opportunity to move a century-old family farmhouse about a mile down the road, but three years later, they have what the Hesseltines say is their “dream home,” with farm animals, a long lane, a huge vegetable garden and more.

“It was a cheap old farmhouse,” Vanessa explained, noting the house was destined to be razed before the couple explored the possibility of moving it to a new location. “My grandma and grandpa, Connie and Charles Smith, used to live there,” she said.

Having sentimental value, the couple hired a company to move the home down the road in the middle of the cold winter of 2019. “There was snow and ice everywhere,” she recalled. “We really thought they would cancel.”

But the moving company found it was a great day to move the old farmhouse, and the whole process didn’t take more than an hour. The structure eventually found a previously dug-out basement foundation that took much longer to create.

It wasn’t long before the couple hired a architectural designer from Lone Tree to draw plans for the remainder of the home, converting a former kitchen into a dining area adjacent to a living room and kitchen, all done in open-floor concept, with an attached oversized two-car garage next to a mud room and small bath.

Kenny Morrison at Morrison Construction of West Liberty took on the task of more than doubling the space for the home, including creating a walk-around L-shaped farm-house-type open porch that puts it all together with a metal roof. Meanwhile, the couple was working with Sue Grings of Grings Cabinetry & Design in Wilton to create Vanessa’s dream kitchen.

With Bob knowing a lot about construction as project manager for Hodge Construction in Iowa City, he had the task of doing a lot of the finish work after the framing and walls were put into place by Morrison, including the firm tearing out a wall to the old house to convert the former kitchen into a dining area that could look out to the front yard or the back yard.

Vanessa, a nurse at University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, said her tasks included finding bargains like the basin kitchen sink she nabbed at a $600 discount, decorating and enhancing items and painting every room from top to bottom while caring for her family, which includes three children: Thacher, 12, Scarlette, 10 and Hazel, 2. Just checking – it’s not Thatcher?

The wide-open space is highlighted by a huge fireplace on the east wall of the living room area and a giant 8.5-by-4-foot white granite-top island that has room for four stools on one side and houses a built-in microwave oven in the upper corner, still close to a gas range that has a unique knotty alder exhaust hood.

The white semi-custom maple kitchen cabinets were made in Minnesota and include a surprising pantry that opens into a walk-in closet that houses dozens of shelves for food and supplies. “Sue has super good taste,” Vanessa said, noting Grings gave her a lot of great ideas, including lighting suggestions to match her décor.

Vanessa says she loves the fact she can look out the window while doing dishes at her farmhouse sink to watch her farm animals or the kids playing in the back yard. “I love watching the horses,” she said, noting she hopes to add goats in the future. The mother of three also loves the fact she can talk to her family or guests while preparing a meal in the kitchen, all put together as one giant room by hardwood flooring.

Even the old portion of the house had to be upgraded, taking a former living area and converting it into a master bedroom that includes a master bath and closet space on the first floor, while the three bedrooms upstairs also got some TLC with new paint.

Grings said Vanessa, a graduate of West Liberty schools, knew what she wanted, and all she did was guide her through the decision-making process so the end result was “exactly what she wanted.” She said the walk-in pantry was a newer concept going into a lot of new kitchens. She said the microwave was placed in the island because Vanessa wanted a hood above her range.

Grings said plans for the kitchen started well before the construction, noting she works with clients on “pretty much everything that goes into the final design, from cabinets and countertops to backsplash to flooring to lighting to hardware. Not only does it need to be beautiful, it needs to be functional too,” she said, noting she tries to make the process as fun and easy as possible.

“My ultimate goal is for my customer to love where they live! I think we achieved that goal with Vanessa and Bob,” Grings said. “The Hesseltines’ home turned out beautiful, and they were wonderful to work with!”

The couple said the family lived in a rural Tipton rental home owned by her late grandmother, Arlene Scorpil, just north of I-80, until the home was completed. Vanessa said there was one major decision the couple had to make when they bought the property — the long lane to the home coming off Lange Avenue, putting her children in the Wilton School District. She said if the lane had been built toward Route 6, the kids would have had to attend West Liberty schools.

Vanessa said there were surprises along the way, and the whole project ended up costing about 25 percent more than they anticipated. “Just building the driveway was $8,000,” she said, noting it was nothing extraordinary – simply a gravel driveway. “We didn’t count on that,” she said.

Even though the main portion of the project is completed, the couple says there are a lot of things they will continue to complete in the months and years ahead, including finishing the basement, landscaping, creating a screened-in back porch, a circle drive and more. “We’re happy with what we have,” Vanessa said. “These other things can wait. Right now, we love our farm life,” she concluded.

 

Bob Hesseltine, Vanessa Hesseltine, Connie Smith, Charles Smith, Kenny Morrison, Morrison Construction, Sue Grings, Hodge Construction, Thacher Hesseltine, Scarlette Hesseltine, Hazel Hesseltine, Arlene Scorpil

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