Concrete design ideas at northwest Cedar Rapids home

Just a couple years ago, Anne Armitage and Alan Peterka decided they'd had enough of country living.

But when they started their search — inside the Cedar Rapids city limits — they didn't expect to find their dream home hidden on a hill, up a quiet street off Johnson Avenue on the northwest side.

'Driving up this street you don't expect a house like this,' said Armitage. 'We saw this house the first day we started looking. The listing said 'as is' so we weren't very interested. But we had some time to kill before seeing another property so we drove by and peered through the windows here. We thought maybe there was some potential here.'

There was indeed potential and Armitage said they really enjoy the home's location. 'We enjoy the proximity, the convenience to everything in town. We used to deal with a ten mile drive just to get gas or groceries.'

Armitage, who owns bark & bloom in NewBo City Market, said they were also drawn to the property itself — two and a half acres — which offers lots of privacy and mature trees. The large back yard, Armitage said, was previously used as the runway for the former owner's small airplane.

'This house definitely has history,' said Armitage, handing over a Gazette article dated July 28, 1957 that features the home. 'It was built on a pay-as-you-go basis between 1948 and 1958.'

Designed and built by a Rockwell engineer — Mr. D. M. Bollhoefer — the home has a walk-out basement, which he built first and where he lived with his family for 10 years before finishing and moving into the upstairs.

Armitage and Peterka purchased the home — a striking mid-century modern bungalow — and started the renovation process in late 2014.

'It didn't look this good when we got here,' said Armitage. 'There were drop ceilings, faux paneling and shag carpet.'

The home had to be gutted and the renovation process took about eight months, said Peterka, allowing the couple to finally move in last summer.

'It's very quirky,' said Armitage. 'But it is very well designed.'

'Anne's dad got everything started off with the demolition,' Peterka said. 'He basically pulled up a dumpster and we tossed it all in,' added Armitage. 'It was neat to take everything out.'

The couple said they knew they were getting into a major renovation before they even started. 'We knew we had to replace the electrical because it was unsafe. And because we ripped out everything that gave us the opportunity to rethink the heating system.' They decided to go with radiant heat instead of forced air.

They painted the white exterior of the house a deep gray and added a pop of color with electric green doors.

'Phase two is continuing work on the yard,' said Peterka. The couple is making plans for the back patio especially which they'd like to transform into a more enjoyable outdoor space instead of just a utilitarian exit from the home.

Perhaps one of the home's most unique features is everywhere you look. 'We were excited about the concrete build,' said Peterka, noting that the entire home is constructed of concrete. 'We knew going in there were concrete floors and we wanted to expose as much of the concrete as possible. But we didn't know until we tore down the drop ceiling that the ceilings were concrete too.'

At times, the concrete presented a challenge, such as discovering a few cracked beams in the kitchen ceiling. 'But our contractor engineered a solution to cover those and we really love the result,' said Armitage. 'We feel so good about this, that it was a good investment to renovate rather than build new. We couldn't have come close to getting this kind of character if we built new.'

Two of the biggest transformations happened in the bathroom and kitchen. 'We completely ripped out the bathroom and started from scratch,' said Peterka. 'It was challenging because we wanted a tub and shower,' added Armitage. 'We are just really happy with how it came together.'

'The kitchen is another small space and we were concerned that we'd both fit in here,' said Peterka.

'But we found this awesome carpenter, Ben Driscoll, who created custom birch cabinets for us,' Armitage said. The temporary chipboard countertops, also created by Driscoll, have been so function they've held off on installing anything else. 'This room really came out better than we imagined,' she said. The birch cabinets, handcrafted by Driscoll, were inspired by a photo in Dwell Magazine and customized to fit the Armitage/Peterka home.

The couple feels lucky to have had all the original drawings from the home in hand. 'And Alan is really good at conceptualizing space,' said Armitage, noting that he created very accurate sketches for how they wanted each room to look.

'We love all the history that comes with this place,' said Armitage. 'We've had the builder's daughter and grandchildren visit. They were very sentimental and glad that we renovated it.'

Peterka agreed. 'We stayed true to the bones and form of the house,' he said. 'We tried to keep the mid-century modern look.'

For instance, many rooms including the living room, den and kitchen have curved walls and glass block accents bathing the rooms in light. 'We love the curvature of some of the walls and windows,' Armitage said. 'The arches in the doors weren't going anywhere. And we are really drawn to the den,' said Armitage, noting it was their favorite space in the home. 'It's a cozy little room.'

The large picture window in the living room is a stunning — and practical — feature as well. 'The home faces south and so the engineer builder created an overhang on the back of the house that allows for more light in the winter and less in the summer to keep the home cooler,' she said.

One might expect a concrete home to be stark and cold, and while the décor in the Armitage/Peterka home is sparse, the feeling is anything but harsh.

'Moving here to this style of a house has been very Zen,' said Armitage. 'We stuck with mid-century modern furniture and décor and set up the home to limit clutter. It feels serene. It just feels good to come home.'