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Living Legacy

By DEB NICKLAY, Of The Globe Gazette

NORA SPRINGS — Like the trees first planted on the property almost 30 years ago, the Rich and Rita Paxson home has bloomed.

The redesign of their 1870s farm house has been a fulfilling process that, while exhausting, “was lots of fun, too,” said Rita.

Although the professional couple has lived in Alaska and Rich is a native of Chicago, “we really just wanted to live in a farm house in Iowa,” Rich said.

They purchased the property just a few miles west of Nora Springs in 1975. They conducted two major remodelings since then to develop the property into the special place it is today.

“We’ve spent a lot of time and energy working on it, but it has been fun doing it, too,” Rita said.

The couple was drawn to the sprawling home and intrigued by the home’s history.

Manies Bitterman, a descendant of William Penn, built the home in the 1870s, a convenient overnight stop for settlers pushing to west. Additions were made about 1900 and again in the 1960s.

The home was showing its age when the Paxsons purchased it. An upstairs toilet was “sinking into the floor,” Rita said with a laugh. While repairs were made, plans got under way for the first remodeling — including the installation of a new kitchen — in 1985. A larger project was undertaken six years ago.

With help from Osgood and Sons on the first project and Jim Patchen on the last, the entire home was rewired, replumbed and revamped. Walls were opened and new windows were installed throughout.

Today, the home is an open and graceful residence, not unlike the people who live there.

The Paxsons were specific about how they wanted their home to look — and as importantly, feel. They wanted a home that was beautiful, functional and large enough to host their extended family on special occasions.

There are few things in the home that do not speak of their love and respect for family.

A beautiful chair and footstool, which belonged to Rich’s mother, is used in the living room. Squares of decorative window glass, taken from Rita’s childhood home in Hampton, were leaded and installed into panels that frame the entryway from the foyer to the living room.

Upstairs, a print of Custer’s last stand, painted by a cousin of Rich’s grandfather, hangs in the hallway. The talent of another artist — Rita’s brother, Mark — is displayed over an alcove off the kitchen.

The home is awash in other unique touches.

Almost all the windows, and there are many of them, are oversized. Some reach from floor to ceiling. In areas where the couple could have easily bypassed window installation, they took special care to incorporate them into the design. Airflow has been maximized and light fills the home every hour of the day.

Raised panel pocket doors, a favorite of Rita’s, were installed through much of the home. Arched doorways are also a common feature, “because they just seem to welcome you into a room,” Rita said. Wall corner edges are bull-nosed, or molded, to soften the look of the home throughout.

A well-lit foyer, floored with high-gloss green marble, greets visitors. The same marble was used as an accent on the new fireplace installed directly across the living room.

The living room area is filled with light, pale mint greens and creams. A full bank of south windows brings the rural landscape into the home, highlighting the warm tones of the wide-planked laminate wood floors.

The living room opens to the kitchen. A waist-high counter, shaped like a hexagon, forms the work area. High stools allow the couple to chat about the day’s events while supper is being made.

A pantry off the kitchen has multiple shelving with a twist. The horizontal planks are curved on one wall to add a bit of dash for Rita’s collection of pottery and glassware. The inside shelving, hidden from view, is more utilitarian.

The work area of the kitchen opens to an airy and simple dining area near an open staircase to the second floor.

Through another archway, a real treasure awaits. And in the afternoon sun, its riches are breathtaking.

A full library with gleaming oak paneling and shelves is housed on the west side of the home. Banks of books line the walls.

“We both like to read and to have our resources nearby when we need them,” Rich said. The creation of the room “just seemed like the right thing to do.”

A pool table sits at one end of the room, adding a fun touch, while at the other end, easy chairs and ottomans, upholstered in cream with black piping, as well as a leather recliner, invite you to pull out a book and relax for while. Venetian blinds, one of the few window coverings seen in the home, cover the south floor-to-ceiling windows. The couple added a half bath to a small den that opens onto a new porch installed in 1998.

In winter, the porch is heated and lined with paneled Plexiglas windows that can be fully removed to create a screened area for summer use.

“We spend a lot of time here. It’s a great space,” Rita said.

Outside is a flagstone patio area a short distance away from a remodeled horse barn. That structure houses a one-bedroom guesthouse for family and friends who are visiting.

Upstairs in the main house is the couple’s master bedroom, den, a guest bedroom and his and her bathrooms.

The master bedroom is simple and elegant. The light celery-colored carpet accentuates the light from the room’s many windows. A small deck, accessed through a windowed door, offers relaxation during the warm months. Rich’s family history says the couple’s antique bed was once a prop for a Philadelphia theater company.

The two bathrooms reflect the couple’s differing tastes. While Rita’s is full of color — mauves, sea foam greens and creams — Rich’s space is entirely white with only chrome towel holders and the bathroom’s mosaic tile providing contrast.

On the opposite end of the second floor is Rich’s stunning den. Wood floors gleam under a vaulted ceiling. The focus of the room is a modified Palladian-style window grouping that allows more of the landscape to become part of the home’s décor.

The Paxson home, far different from its look 30 years ago, has rooted and flowered. And, like the settlers of more than a century ago, friends and family find welcome comfort here.

“Almost everything we have in our home has been given to us by family, or reminds us of our families,” Rita said. “Those are the things that are important to us,” she said.