CEDAR RAPIDS — Realtors sell hundreds of houses through the years and often “prissy” them all up, staging them attractively to appeal to potential buyers.
One wonders: What do their houses look like?
We asked one of the premier real estate agents in the city and state, Jill Gustin, who has had almost $131 million in sales during her 26-year career and is a principal associate of Iowa Realty and member of the Iowa Realty Hall of Fame. She answered our question by inviting us to her southeast home, which she shares with husband, Tim Gustin, and — when not in college — their son, Chase.
The house is about 4,500 square feet, with four bedrooms, 3.5 baths (including a walk-in steam shower), custom kitchen, vaulted family room, rec and wine rooms, two decks and three-stall garage. It has two furnaces/air-conditioning units and is zoned by floor. It’s assessed at more than $400,000.
“We feel like we live in a treehouse,” says Jill, describing the 1.1-acre wooded lot that they have.
Tim agreed: “We love the view of the trees and the animals.”
The couple, both 60, love the “privacy and the solitude” and hold dear their love of nature.
Indeed, it is hard to view anything but nature from the numerous windows in the house, which is designed with a low profile and neutral color that blends in with ancient trees. Most of the home’s activity is at the back, where the living room/family room and glassed-in three-season porch are located. Here, large windows look upon ground that first slopes down, then steeply ascends, and is generously populated by dozens of slender trees piercing the oyster sky.
They built the house in 1988, with Jill drawing the floor plan to scale. Although it has a lower level, they envisioned “growing old” in it and designed it for independent living on the main level. Jill worked with Phelan’s Interiors and also Mary Chesebro Interior Design.
Inside, the home is warm and inviting, largely modern style but not an open floor plan — except, perhaps, for the spacious kitchen (and office space), 36-feet-by-21 feet, that segue into a charming breakfast area that in turn looks into the comfy wicker-furnished glassed porch — literally surrounded by the treed landscape.
“Tim and I have eclectic tastes — we love Asian, African and modern art, and contemporary design …. We have some family antiques thrown into the mix as well. We do not like clutter or lots of knickknacks. We have tried to make our home furnishings neutral and low key so that our guests, family and artwork are the stars,” Jill says.
And stars they are. One can hardly turn around without spotting art in various forms, from a beautiful glass creation that waves across a foyer table in brilliant colors to abstract paintings of magnificent dimensions on the walls, to a sculptural shaped painting that adorns the breast of the generous limestone fireplace. The latter was a commissioned piece done by local artist and gallery owner Stan Wiederspan.
One of the most striking works is that of Chinese female riders on white horses. They seem to streak across a dining room wall in their gold frame, an appealing contrast to the dark paisley wallpaper. Not many rooms could handle the paper’s large pattern but this 16-foot-by-15-foot room can. A lovely Turkish room-size rug and Chinese-style cabinet add additional flair.
The Gustins redid the kitchen in 2010-11. It is the crown jewel of the home, for parents and son all love to cook.
A stunning summation of aesthetics and function, the room belongs in Architectural Digest, what with its mellowed beauty and great expanse. Its angled granite island ends in a breakfast bar, and the cabinetry is birdseye butternut. Countertops are Persian Cream granite (mottled cream and black), and the side-by-side refrigerator matches the cabinetry. Double ovens gleam from the wall.
Appliances are all GE Monogram, except the Miele dishwasher from Germany. The five-burner drop-in gas cooktop has a recessed vent. Jill’s favorite appliance: a large warming drawer for food or plates.
Body copy ragged right: The walls impart a vintage aura, composed of seven layers of custom-applied Italian stucco — meant to resemble old walls seen in France and Italy.
The kitchen and dining room are Tim’s favorite rooms.
“We love to entertain,” Tim says. “Having people in for dinner is a great way to spend an evening. Wine and food are my hobby and my passion.”
The 6-foot-2 Tim adds that “There is nothing more relaxing for me than cooking in our kitchen with Jill and having a nice bottle of wine.”
They have a temperature-controlled wine room that is 19-by-9 feet in the lower level and a wine refrigerator in the family room.
They do “team cooking.” The couple have taken culinary classes in Tuscany, Italy, and also Napa Valley, Calif. Jill loves “to create tablescapes” for the dining room table settings.
Tim is vice president of customer adoption for Banno LLC, “which provides ‘technology solutions to financial institutions,’” he explains. He works in the local office of the Cedar Falls-based company.
The couple have long been heavily involved in the community, and for charity fundraising events, they have entertained as many as 50 at a sit-down dinner. Their favorite entertaining now is having small groups of friends over for dinner, “almost weekly.”
Chase Gustin, 21, at 6-5, a senior at the University of Iowa, began learning and “helping” in the kitchen at age 2. At age 3, when asked what he wanted for his third birthday, he replied: “Crab raccoon, steamed mussels in garlic and white wine, and artichokes.” Jill says it’s a fond memory for her. Today, she says, “Chase is a wonderful cook.”
All in all, “ … We are people who really use our house,” she says. “When you work all day, you love to come home to be here.”
