An old farmhouse on the outside, family’s cozy comfort inside
When you drive up to Bob and Jean Blue’s home in Merton, it’s clear that it’s a farmhouse.
The pale yellow exterior of the twostory home is accented in white, and there are decorative shingles at its peak, large windows, and a front porch that would be perfect for sipping iced tea on a warm summer night.
Two silos behind it also add credence to its origin.
But the look changes the minute you walk inside. Where one would expect small rooms that are cozy but self-contained, some rooms open into each other.
The couple, who bought the 2,800square-foot 1920s home in 1994, said they love both looks but that they’re responsible only for the appearance of the exterior.
“We were told that the previous owner was a drywaller and that he took the entire inside of the house down to the studs,” said Bob. “He replaced all the plaster and put up drywall and he opened the wall between the dining room and kitchen.”
“We think he also added closets,” added Jean. “You usually don’t find walk-in closets in a house of this age.”
A previous owner also added a mother-in-law suite, which includes an eatin kitchen, a bathroom, bedroom and spacious living room. But that space has yet a different look from the rest of the house.
“It’s more rustic. … the ceilings are lower and in the living room there are cedar ceiling beams and decorative stucco between the beams,” said Jean.
The space may not have the same cozy, vintage look as the rest of their house, but it’s clearly the sweetest spot around. That’s because it’s where Bob makes hand-crafted chocolates for his business, Fat Turtle Confections.
His candies will be for sale at Krauski Art Glass during the Monches Area Artisans 35th Annual Holiday Open House, which will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 1 to 3.
They are also available at seasonal festivals in his area, The Scizzory Hair Design in Merton, and through his website. (The Blues’ home will not be open to the public for the tour).
Prior to making candy full time, he worked in financial investing and was also a stay-at-home parent for their two daughters. His wife works at the corporate offices of Kohl’s.
Bob and Jean have spent many hours working on their home over the years. One of the first and biggest projects they undertook was to redo the home’s exterior and add a front porch.
“The house had old clapboard, and we took it all off and added insulation and house wrap and then we had vinyl siding put up,” said Bob.
“When we wanted to add the porch, everyone said we should add a wraparound porch. But we knew it wouldn’t look right because of where the windows were located, so we added a porch to one side of the house and it looks more balanced. It’s about 12-by-20 feet.”
In addition to making the house look complete, the porch adds lots of charm yet also brings in light.
“We built the porch with a vaulted ceiling and painted it white to reflect light into the house. Now this space is bright and cheery. Before it was dark,” said Jean.
Jean said Bob has also painted the entire interior of their home — more than once — and that he installed the hardwood floors in the living room and dining room and added thick crown molding on the lower level.
The couple also updated their master bathroom, the second-floor bathroom and their kitchen. In their living room they took out an oversize, unattractive fireplace and replaced it with a smaller one and then added windows on that wall to let in more light.
They recently talked about their home while Bob handed out samples of his chocolates. Question: What changes did you make in the master bath?
Bob: All the plumbing was here, but the room was dated. We just had everything updated. We used comfort-height toilets and put in a higher vanity with a dark brown Corian countertop.
I painted the room a light marine blue color. It’s a cooler color and gives more of a spa feel. We also used larger pieces of tile with small accent pieces in the shower, and added a large corner soaking tub.
I also made a cabinet in one corner of the room where there was dead space and another cabinet where there had been a storage area. I made them to match the alderwood cabinets we bought for the room. I used radiator screening on the fronts.
Jean: We did that for a clean, modern look in keeping with the rest of the room. Q: How did you change the secondfloor bathroom?
Jean: Bob painted that room white, and he installed new tile, a new toilet and a double sink with a light brown Corian countertop. Q: How long have you been making candy in your home?
Bob: Two years as a business, but I’ve been making candy for many years and giving it to people as gifts.
Jean: Two years ago — when Bob started his business — we converted the kitchen in the suite to be a certified kitchen. Q: How did you use the mother-inlaw suite before?
Jean: We rented it out for a while.
Now we use the living room area like a finished basement. Q: Did you have to buy much equipment to outfit your candy operation?
Bob:I got a candy table that is ergonomically correct for dipping candy. This time of year I work 12 to 14 hours a day. My work is seasonal, from October to April.
Q: How do you use your daughters’ former bedrooms, and what colors did you paint them?
Bob:One is a guest bedroom, and that’s a light gray. The other is Jean’s hobby room and is a gray-blue. Q: What’s in your hobby room?
Jean: I have a 42-inch Kessenich loom for making carpets. At least that’s my retirement plan.
Q: You have silos, so there must have been a barn here once. Did you take it down? Jean: A previous owner did. We would like to have had it, but we were told it was a hazard. Bob:This was once a working dairy farm. Q: How much land do you have, and did you make many changes to your landscape?
Bob: We have 5.1 acres. We had a gravel driveway, and we turned that into a circular driveway.
Jean:We also put flowerbeds all around the house, and we moved a lot of trees and we also added new trees. We have a lot of maples. We have six large ones. Four have to be 80 years old. Q: Is that big structure near your silos a garage?
Bob:Yes, it’s a four-car garage, and it was here when we bought the house. It could be as old as the house. We added a lean-to on one side. We also took off all the shingles on the roof and added a metal roof. Now we can collect rain water for our gardens. We also added metal siding. Q: What’s your style of decorating? Bob: Budget. Actually I would call it comfort. Jean: I would call it eclectic comfort.
Q: Do you have many family pieces?
Bob:That’s my dad’s chair in the living room. We had it re-covered to go with the furniture in this room.
Jean:We like to incorporate family pieces. The dining room table was Bob’s grandma’s. His mom had it before us and she had it redone. It’s an oval table that opens up and is very big. Q: What changes did you make in your kitchen?
Jean: In 1998 we made changes to better suit our needs. We added an island that is topped with granite and connects to a table that has a Formica top. We also added new cabinets, stainless appliances and a walkin pantry. Q: Why did you move to this area?
Bob: We wanted a place where our kids could grow up and play and have fun. I wanted them to relive my childhood. I grew up in a house that had a big farm behind us.
Before we lived here, we lived in a duplex in Wauwatosa. Now that the girls are adults they still talk about hunting for salamanders and toads and running though the cornfields. Thy really loved growing up here.
Do you, or does someone you know, have a cool, funky or exquisite living space that you’d like to see featured in At Home? Contact Fresh home and garden editor Nancy Stohs at (414) 224-2382 or email nstohs@journalsentinel.com.