:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/FPIUJUZ3ECEB3BRG5WIWSTA5I4.jpg)
Local mixed media artist Jennifer Welcher enjoys working with items that seem to no longer have a purpose and make them useful again.
“I’ve always been able to see the potential in something,” she said.
The latest “art project” Jennifer and her husband John have been working on, along with their daughters and friends, has been to restore a 100-year-old house the city of Osceola was ready to tear down.
After extensive renovation and restoration, the Victorian style house at 206 S. Jackson St., has been given a new lease on life as a gift shop, eatery, art gallery and bed and breakfast. The Artistry House opened a month and a half ago. Some know the house as the Dora Beadle property. Beadle once owned an ice cream parlor on the Osceola square.
It was a daunting project, and has been a lot of work, said Jennifer.
In the process Jennifer and John tried to restore as much of the original woodworking, windows and wood flooring that they could.
How it started
John had just been laid off from his job of 35 years. The couple began looking for a business opportunity to pursue in case John wasn’t able to find work again.
In 2009, local Real Estate Associate Ed Buesch told the couple about the house. They learned about its demise and decided to look at the house.
“It was in extremely bad shape,” said Welcher. “It was falling down. There were cats living in it.”
The couple sent a bid to the city and began researching whether restoring the house would be a good move financially.
The house was gutted down to the wood and needed new electrical and plumbing. Friends and family volunteered, which helped keep costs low. Some local contractors were also hired.
When John was hired to work for the state of Iowa, construction on the house slowed down.
Although in its final stages of construction, the gift shop/art/craft gallery is now open.
Eating
The couple is working in conjunction with King’s Canyon Art Gallery and Bistro as it prepares to open an eatery.
“We’re not going to serve the same sandwiches and stuff that King’s Canyon has, so there’s other choices to go to,” said Jennifer.
Jennifer anticipates she’ll begin serving food sometime after the Fourth of July. Eventually, the house will be available to smaller parties, like anniversaries and weddings. The house has the capacity to hold 50 people.
Employees will serve homemade cupcakes, cookies and brownies. The goal is to add homemade pies and homemade ice cream, too.
Each day the eatery will have a featured sandwich, as well other melt sandwiches, side dishes and beverages to choose from.
Gift shop/art gallery
The gift shop offers art and crafts from local artists, as well as artists from around the area and across the state.
Some of the items available include framed photography, handmade soap, stained glass, pottery, walking sticks, jewelry, handmade flint knives, cards, antique doilies, other miscellaneous small antiques, quilts, homemade candy, homemade organic dog and cat treats, candles and watercolor prints.
The business will also start offering various classes people can sign up for, including flint knapping with Tim Murphy, sewing, painting and more.
Several of Jennifer’s family members have artistic talents they wanted to utilize in the business. Her daughter is a graphic designer and artist. Her mother-in-law sews and quilts. Her step-daughter makes homemade cards.
“We were just trying to tap into our own talents in case my husband didn’t get employed, because he was over 60 and the economy is really hard out there,” she said.
Bed and Breakfast
An upstairs bed and breakfast suite is still under construction. Jennifer hopes to have it open by fall. The suite has a bathroom with a shower, clawfoot bathtub, bedroom, living room/sitting room and kitchenette. It can be accessed from a private entrance.
Additional plans
The backyard is being landscaped to look nice for smaller parties. A porch will be added to the front and back of the house for outdoor dining.
During the final stages of construction, The Artistry House Gallery will be open for temporary hours 9 am to 3 pm, Monday through Thursday, with longer daytime and weekend hours when construction is complete.
For more information call 641-342-1162 or visit www.facebook/artistryhouse.