Wareham renovates former Odebolt bank into new home
--by Deb Loger, Ida County Courier, www.idacountycourier.com
(Thank you to Roger Rector, owner/publisher, and Deb Loger, reporter, for allowing us to publish this article from the October 6, 2010 on-line edition of the Ida County Courier.)
Several years ago, Curt Wareham of Odebolt remodeled the second floor of the Jim’s TV and Appliance building from apartments to a 2,000-square foot home for his family. He’s currently in the process of adding 1,500-square feet to his home by renovating the Farmers Savings Bank.
According to information found in the “Fifty Years of Progress,” a supplement of The Odebolt Chronicle, Farmers Savings Bank opened in 1914 and failed in 1926. Odebolt State Bank was housed in the building from 1934-67.
Wareham said, “I had owned the old bank building for a quite a bit and had been using it as a warehouse and a place to put my large trees in the winter. We were having problems with the roof leaking, so I contacted some roofers. When they got up there, they found out it was a cement roof with two soft areas. I went into the attic and found two big squares of plywood, which got me wondering if there had been skylights in the past. I started researching skylights and ended up putting six-foot by six-foot skylights in the atrium and our future master suite. Once I did that, I decided to make it part of our home.
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| Tuck pointing the bank, Sept. 2008 |
“Vonnie (Wareham’s wife) and I had talked about living above the store for 10 years, then looking for a house. We couldn’t find an older home that was equivalent to what we have without spending $60,000 for renovations, so we decided to add to our living space by remodeling the old bank. The lower level features a foyer, study area for our kids and an atrium with patio access. Upstairs will be our master suite and an office/guest room.”
Exterior work done on the building includes the skylights, roof repairs, tuck pointing the terracotta front and brick east side of the building, new front windows, new windows and doors to a concrete patio area and a wrought iron balcony off the master suite.
“One of the first things I did was gold leaf the Farmers Savings Bank on the front of the building, so it would stand out. We are in the process of renovating the front door, which will eventually be the main entrance to our home. The other building is six-feet higher than the bank, so I closed in the bank’s front staircase and recycled that marble to steps from the bank to a landing and the stairs to our current home. When finished, the marble on the steps will be inlaid in solid oak,” said Wareham.
As you enter the foyer, you walk through two cherry oak French doors. To the left are a smaller room and steps to the second level of both buildings. The smaller room, the former bank manager’s office, will be the children’s study area.
Wareham said, “Fifty-three years ago, my dad signed the papers for Jim’s TV and Appliance in that office.”
The atrium features 22-foot high walls, two large ceiling fans, a skylight, marble and oak on the walls, a 10-foot by 11- foot patio doors and windows on the east wall and a wrought iron balcony off the master suite.
“I researched patio doors online before I finally found what I wanted. The doors are extra tall with side windows and transom. There are no center posts in the doors. It took Taylor Contracting over a week to get a hole in the wall for the patio doors. This building is built very soundly; the bricks could fall off and the frame/skeleton would still stand. They eventually brought in jackhammers that are used to tear up roads to cut the hole for the doors and windows,” Wareham said.
“We had just started working in the atrium and I was wondering how I was going to work up where the skylight is (25-feet high at the peak). Norm Behrens (manager at the Odebolt branch of First State Bank) came over and asked if the “Peacock” movie crew could store skyjacks in my building at night. I asked them if I could use them and they said, no problem. We had to hustle to get the work done before they left town. We worked at night, starting at the top and working down.”
According to Wareham, Rod Bettin (Odebolt) designed and made the two-foot crown molding for the skylights and his sister-in-law helped him figure out the materials and techniques needed to copy and make a cornice for the west wall (the original cornice was damaged by water).
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| Courier photo by Deb Loger| A shot of Wareham’s atrium from the windows of an office/guest room suite located on the north upper level of the bank. Wareham was originally using the building as a warehouse. Once he installed the atrium and master suite skylights, he decided to incorporate the building into living quarters. This isn’t Wareham’s first renovation of an old building. Several years ago he redid the apartments above Jim’s TV and Appliance into a large living space for his family. |
The balcony features three types of wrought iron—some simples, some Marquette (old bank style) and part Orleans (to look like a New Orleans balcony).
“At night, the skylights are dead, so Rod designed a special crown molding with a 12½ degree that allowed us to install lighting. When you hit that switch, it brings the sky to life at night. In the winter, when the trees are in the atrium, it feels like you’re in a corner café down south, and that’s just the feel I was looking for,” said Wareham.
“A lot of the marble and original woodwork was taken out of the building before I purchased it. I have taken a lot of time to come as close to the original as I can. I added the castle stone on the walls, and we worked in our colors to add architectural element to it. We did choose a different color green than the green (color of money) used in bygone days. The furnishings in the atrium have that old-bank look to them, in keeping with the architectural details of the building.”
As you move toward the back of the atrium, you pass through a hallway with a brick wall. Wareham said he cleaned the plaster off the brick and will eventually seal it.
He said, “This hallway will be my gallery with old black and white pictures on one wall and the other wall dedicated to the movie “Peacock.” One of my trees appears three times in the movie, so I’m hoping to get a movie poster and put up some of the photographs I took while it was being filmed.”
The solid oak back stairway has been refinished and leads up to a room that will be an office/ guest room, complete with its own bathroom.
The front of the building will house the Warehams’ master suite, which will include the bedroom with balcony and skylight, a huge walk in closet and a master bathroom, featuring glass block walls to the toilet and steam shower, jetted tub and lounge.
“Every town has these buildings, and once you start working on one of them you find a ton of character and craftsmanship. I think, 100 years ago, builders did their very best, while today they are more interested in getting the work done and getting their money. This is my night and weekend job during the winter. I take the summer off so I can spend time with my kids.
“A lot of people thought we were crazy to do this. It takes some imagination and a lot of work, but it’s worth it. I’m just amazed at the interest level people have shown. We took more than 100 people on tours during Odebolt Creek Days, even though we hadn’t done much of anything yet. I never expected that interest level.”
(NOTE: Curt is looking for old photographs of the bank, especially of the interior, since all the bank fixtures, counters and cages were sold and removed many years ago. If you can help him out, please contact him at Jim's TV or email the web master at
Corn trophy: The Cook Corn Trophy is on display at First State Bank in Odebolt. The trophy was discovered during renovations of Curtiss Hall at Iowa State University and is on loan to the Odebolt community until July 25. Here, a couple checks out the trophy and reads some of the history on Brookmont (Cook) Ranch on display at the bank. Don and Dan Etler gave two presentations on the history of Cook Ranch at the First Presbyterian Church Saturday morning. Charles W. Cook purchased 12 square miles of unbroken prairie north of Odebolt for $5 an acre in 1873. It remained Iowa’s largest farm for more than 35 years. In 1904, the Cook Corn Trophy was delivered to Iowa State University. (Courier photos by Deb Loger) 
