From parties to relaxing, gazebos offer elegant shade, shelter in summer's heat

Gazebos.

What structure could better fit this traditional month of hot days and nights than the shaded confines of a gazebo? That venerable edifice has marched through the centuries, through all manner of cultures, in all architectural versions — and still thrives in the 21st century, lending its singular charm to the denizens of a digital age.

The Gazette found three very different renditions of the gazebo within its reading area, each suited to its owner or builder, each possessing qualities from classic to 'shabby chic' to Victorian charm. And if one were to translate to sizes, one might say large, extra large — and petite.

For the classic look, one has only to go so far as Lakeside Road in Cedar Rapids and the gazebo of Nan Riley and her late husband, attorney Tom Riley. The stately structure sits by the shimmering waters of Cook's Pond, its pristine white contrasted with the emerald green of silky grasses surrounding it.

In the center of the 24-foot long and 25-foot high gazebo is a statue of Venus, her dignity a complement to the building's architecture. Eight columns accented by carriage lights and decorative braces catch the eye. A concrete foundation, Stone City stone half-walls, slate floor and a ridged dome-like copper roof aged to a dark patina give an air of timelessness. An ornamental railing atop the roof completes the classic look of the gazebo, constructed on site in 1990.

'Tom just wanted a gazebo,' explains Nan Riley, 84. 'We took a book from the library on gazebos, and you could order plans from it. We got some that looked very French. But Tom studied them and said the gazebo would look squatty if built to those dimensions, so Harold Brown, our son-in-law, modified the plans to make the gazebo taller.

'Tom's eye had been exactly right, the modified height was perfect.'

The Rileys made good use of the screened-in gazebo when Tom was alive, cooking and eating in it, even sleeping there on hot summer nights. They had parties in it. 'I use it mainly just to sit in and enjoy now,' Riley says, for they eventually removed the screening.

But it is August, and now at twilight, that most elegant time of day, the pure lines of the gazebo stand out against the soft gray haze, the white figure of Venus etched in stark contrast to the descending darkness. The structure is illuminated, fleetingly reminding one of a Grecian temple. It is a surprising but handsome sight on the Iowa landscape.

Not many people would look at an old wire corncrib used to holding 1,000 bushels of corn and think 'Gazebo!' But John Baumhoefener III did. He and wife Leslie live outside Keystone on a 5-acre acreage, purchasing it in 1979.

On the crib: 'It was a shame to tear it down and sell for scrap; it bore the patina of the Century Farm it was on. We chose to repurpose it (around 1995) in a shabby chic way with a circular paver floor,' says Baumhoefener with obvious relish. He and Leslie, both around 60 now, laid the floor themselves. They also removed the bottom section of the crib so now the gazebo measures 16-feet across and 8 feet high. 'We can get a lot of people in there,' Leslie says.

John Baumhoefener is president and co-owner with Leslie of the longtime Baumhoefener Nursery and Red Barn Market in northwest Cedar Rapids.

On the crib itself, porcelain and trumpet vines make their way up the exterior, the porcelain so called, says John Baumhoefener, because it has berries that resemble porcelain beads that burgeon in multiple colors. A cupola finishes off the top. The gazebo is lit at night with low-voltage fixtures, for both function and beauty.

The vintage theme carries to the inside, too. A potbelly stove centers one wall. A white wrought-iron garden set is from the rose garden of John Baumhoefener's grandmother. Old signs accent the walls. Outside, a giant silver maple gives ample shade.

Leslie Baumhoefener immediately embraced the idea of repurposing. 'We like older things, and their history. I love the gazebo. It's really cute,' she says.

The Baumhoefeners use it 'mostly for guests and family, although a nice evening fire in the potbelly stove and some wine is great as well,' John says.

It's a bit of a landmark on the corner of Bever Avenue and Woodland Drive SE in Cedar Rapids: A delicate version of a full-size gazebo, although at 8 feet in diameter and 12 feet in height, it's not exactly dollhouse-sized.

It's a charmer, too, sporting fancy white balusters marching about its perimeter like so many soldiers, and pierced fretwork in the form of braces that create little arches all about. Then there's that arresting cone-shaped roof, covered by scalloped and rectangular shake shingles.

The gazebo was 'built from scratch' in 2004 by Greg Baker, now of Marshalltown, and his late father, a carpenter. Baker owned the house with his late partner, Fran Reimers, and sold it in 2011 to Doug and Vickie Norton.

Baker, 57, was always a garden and gazebo enthusiast, attracted to the Victorian style, with its many 'curlicues and brackets,' he says. 'I had a big fancy wrought iron bench and the gazebo just had to fit around the bench.' He and his dad set to work, says Baker proudly. 'I had a lot of insights from my dad ... He turned the posts on his lathe, and I hand-cut the shingles ... Not having to pay someone to build it, I could indulge in some of the things I wanted to have.

' ... I just like old, quaint things. It (was) a nice place to sit in the evenings. I was always proud of it, and it was something I'd always wanted.'

The gazebo has even been the setting for a wedding, that of the sister-in-law of the Nortons' daughter.

Doug Norton, 60, says the gazebo 'stands like a guardian. I'd be lost without it.' It's unique, he says, 'the only one I've seen in this area.'