Growing your home to grow old with it

Looking at R'becca and Wayne Groff's home you'd have no idea that just about two years ago it was a major construction zone.

The Groff's have lived in their home, located in a quiet neighborhood on the edge of northeast Cedar Rapids, since the summer of 1998. R'becca said she'd dreamed of making some updates and renovating it to be their dream home for many years.

So when Wayne was unexpectedly diagnosed with a life-altering illness a couple of years ago, the Groff's decided it was time to make their dreams of a dream home a reality.

'This was about getting the house ready to grow old in,” said R'becca. 'And my advice to others is don't wait to do a project like this. Do it as soon as you can.”

The project, which included three separate new additions to the home, transformed the home from a 2,400 square foot two-story home to a 4,000 square foot home. And while it took a year to complete - with the Groff's living in the home while it was under construction for all but three weeks of that time - Groff said it was worth every minute and dollar spent.

'This was a very complicated project as you can imagine,” she said. 'But I had the best contractors and crew working with me. Bless their hearts, they made my dreams come true.”

On one back corner of the home they added a new addition that includes a spacious main floor master bedroom and bathroom.

'I always wanted an all-white Cape Cod style bathroom and here it is,” Groff said.

The focal point of the space is a stunning claw-foot tub, something Groff said she's wanted since the couple was married 45 years ago.

There are many features of the renovation that take aging in place into consideration, such as the wide doorways and pocket doors which are easier to operate while using a walker or wheelchair.

'In all the design, I was really thinking ahead to what we were going to need as we got older,” she said.

There's also a new main floor laundry room that was added just outside of the master bathroom providing easier access.

On the other back corner of the home, the Groff's added a bright and inviting four season's porch.

'This is my favorite room,” Groff said. 'I need light and this room has so much of it. Right here it's like you are sitting in the trees.”

The room features a unique large honeycomb pattern porcelain floor.

The kitchen was also totally gutted during the renovation.

'That wasn't in the original plan, but then I thought we can't add these three new additions and leave all that old oak cabinetry,” said Groff.

With its traditional French country feel, it's the perfect spot for Groff to do her cooking, which she enjoys every much.

'I added two upper cabinets with glass in them because I love how they look, and I can handle keeping those cabinets tidy,” she said.

There are also several nods to a bygone era throughout the home as well.

'By the time you get to be my age you want to replicate things from your childhood,” Groff said.

The candy bins, much like those you would have found in a general store, on the end of the Groff's new kitchen island are a big hit with the Groff's grandchildren who come to visit often. Even the light fixtures hanging over the island have a soda fountain feel to them.

'This is an homage to the America I grew up in as a kid,” she said.

During the renovation, they also gutted all of the bathrooms and remodeled them to feature open cabinetry and more current design styles.

'I really went for it,” Groff said of the renovation. 'I figured I'd better since I'll only get to do this once.”

The upstairs bedrooms got updated décor, with the room dedicated to her grandchildren being particularly fun and bright.

'We play a lot of hide and seek here when my grandchildren come to visit,” she said, pointing out the shelf of Little Golden Books and puzzles that she had for her own children growing up.

What was a small bedroom at the back of the house got an expansion as well thanks to the new first floor addition. It is now Groff's home office - complete with built in bookshelves - where she is hard at work on a novel among other projects.

'I made it a writer and reader house,” she said.

At the front of the home, is perhaps the most dramatic renovation where a contemporary two-story turret was added.

'I've loved Victorian style all of my life, but that wouldn't have been the right look to add on to the home,” said Groff noting that the compromise in design turned out beautifully.

Her contractor added a loft area just off the upstairs master bedroom which has become a great reading and journaling spot.

'The cat loves it there too,” Groff said. 'It's where she naps.”

It overlooks the music room below which is home to a lovely baby grand piano which Groff's husband plays.

'Music is big in this family. And I like color as you can tell,” Groff said pointing to the various colors gracing the walls - everything from deep dark blue to rich creamy gold.

'It's a big deal to decorate my home with things that make me feel good. I need a story behind my stuff,” she added.

The glider in her sun room, for example, was purchased with first place winnings from the Iowa Ag Council's dessert competition Groff won a few years back. And many of the iron pieces - such as plates from old tractors, masonry stars and pieces from old stove pipes - remind Groff of her father who was a welder.

'I'm big on architectural details,” she said.

The home now has an impressive array of windows that let in copious amount of natural light, something Groff truly appreciates.

'I didn't want a lot of cloth on the windows,” she noted, pointing out the plantation shutters which were installed on many windows. Groff does admit, however, that keeping the windows clean is a big job.

'You have to like to wash windows to live in a house like this,” she laughed.

This coming August will mark two years of the project being complete. And because the renovations disrupted three corners of their home to complete the transformation Groff is finally settled in and is getting things hung on the wall where she likes them.

'This big of a project can really throw your house into a frenzy,” she said.

She's also getting the yard back in order and re-establishing the perennials she had planted around the home which she saved in a holding bed at the back of her yard during construction.

'The work is never done but I love being outside and I love living in this house,” she said. 'It was built so well and was the perfect house to do what we wanted to do.”