Mid-Century Modern Homes Tour Visits Oskaloosa

Marv and Kim Bloem shared their Mid-Century Modern home in Oskaloosa with visitors from around Iowa.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – When you live in a place for some time, you can often overlook the treasures in your own backyard.

Oskaloosa holds several homes that are treasures to those that have an interest in Mid-Century Modern, which include the Frank Lloyd Wright homes. Oskaloosa is home to two of those treasures.

Suzie Fredregill, who owns Funky Finds Vintage and Retro in Des Moines, hosted a Mid Mod Madness tour through four Oskaloosa homes.

Fredregill is part of a group of five or six retailers that make up a group called Mid Mod Iowa.

Every year the group holds an event that features tours of homes, but also a shop hop with participating retailers, and ending the evening with a vintage cocktail and live music.

Kim Bloem is a customer of Fredregill, “and became a very dear friend of mine. So when I visited her in Oskaloosa and saw all this phenomenal mid-century architecture, she and I spit-balled the idea of let’s take our show on the road and let’s go to Oskaloosa. It would give us an opportunity to highlight architecture in the community. It would give people an opportunity to support the community and small local business by putting some dollars into Oskaloosa and then those that went on the tour would also be able to get some design inspiration and appreciation for mid-century design,” said Fredregill.

“So we approached the Iowa Architectural Foundation because our group is not non-profit. We’re just a group of retailers that work together and believe in the spirit of cooperation, so we if we charge for tickets we need someone to give the money to. We contacted the Iowa Architectural Foundation and asked if this could be a fundraiser for them, and they were thrilled.

So the two groups hosted the event, with just 100 tickets available.

The south side of Marv and Kim Bloem’s home in Oskaloosa.

Those 100 tickets were sold in four days to “people that are passionate about Mid Century Modern.”

As they do in Des Moines, they joined with local retailers to help provide a shopping experience for ticket holders.

Other Mid-Century Modern facilities around Oskaloosa were also on the list of must-visits, which included MidWestOne Bank and the Mahaska County Annex building, for the self-guided tour.

The architecture that makes up Mid-Century Modern for the group is homes and design starting in the 1950’s to the early 1980’s. “Some people might even define the mid-century beginning in the 1920’s and 30’s,” said Fredregill.

“Oh my goodness, you guys have such amazing stuff in your little town. You are such a well-kept secret. People need to know about you, they do,” said Fredregill of Oskaloosa.

Kim and Marv Bloem opened their home as part of the tour.

Their home was built in 1963 for Dr. Smith, a long-time physician in Oskaloosa, who raised three children in the home.

Architect Stephen Stoltz, of the architectural firm Steffen, Stoltz & Nelson from Ottumwa, designed the home.

When the home was for sale, Kim said they “just came to look at it because I wanted to see the bathrooms. I wanted my husband to remodel our bathroom.”

“I got right inside the door, and I said I just want this house,” added Kim. “Hadn’t even seen the bathrooms. And that day, we had bought it.”

Kim says that she and her husband are the 3rd owners of the home. “So many people have said, you’re going to have a lot of remodeling to do. We haven’t done anything”, with the exception of some new flooring in the kitchen area and the wood deck.

“The bathrooms, the light fixtures, everything is original,” added Kim.

The kitchen and dining area of Marv and Kim Bloem’s home.

Even some of the original lighting fixtures that hadn’t been installed were discovered in a box in the garage. Marv set out rebuilding the fixtures and got them installed.

“We had Dr. Smith here about two years ago to see it [home]. He could not believe we just kept everything,” added Kim.

The home has many floor to ceiling windows, which is a highlight of the home. Kim says, “I attempted to wash the windows once. There’s a lot of glass here.”

The homeowners now hire professionals to help them keep the glass clean.

The only other problem with the glass says Marv is the birds that try to fly straight through the home.

Kim and Marv feel as though they are now stewards of the home, preserving it for future generations.

‘I’m not saying we’re total purists, but we definitely believe in preserving. It’s very easy to go ahead and remodel something, but the only problem with that is, five years later it’s out of date,” said Marv. “You have to do it all over again.”

“Like our carpet in the east room and downstairs, it’s original. I’m really careful with it cause I don’t want to have to replace it,” added Kim.

The intercom system from the 1960’s still functions today. Electrical strips along the counter still work, and light switches.

Guests on the tour didn’t want to leave the home, taking in the unique style. “I had to shoo them out”, said one of the volunteers at the home.

Kim sees the tour as a positive for Oskaloosa, where those from the outside get an opportunity to see some of the architecture available in town.

“Who would have thought Oskaloosa had houses like this,” one visitor said.