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Several years ago, Curt Wareham of Odebolt
remodeled the second floor of the Jim’s TV and
Appliance building from apartments to a 2,000-square
foot home for his family. He’s currently in the
process of adding 1,500-square feet to his home by
renovating the Farmers Savings Bank.
According to information found in the “Fifty
Years of Progress,” a supplement of The Odebolt
Chronicle, Farmers Savings Bank opened in 1914 and
failed in 1926. Odebolt State Bank was housed in the
building from 1934-67.
Wareham said, “I had owned the old bank building
for a quite a bit and had been using it as a
warehouse and a place to put my large trees in the
winter. We were having problems with the roof
leaking, so I contacted some roofers. When they got
up there, they found out it was a cement roof with
two soft areas. I went into the attic and found two
big squares of plywood, which got me wondering if
there had been skylights in the past. I started
researching skylights and ended up putting six-foot
by six-foot skylights in the atrium and our future
master suite. Once I did that, I decided to make it
part of our home.
“Vonnie (Wareham’s wife) and I had talked about
living above the store for 10 years, then looking
for a house. We couldn’t find an older home that was
equivalent to what we have without spending $60,000
for renovations, so we decided to add to our living
space by remodeling the old bank. The lower level
features a foyer, study area for our kids and an
atrium with patio access. Upstairs will be our
master suite and an office/guest room.”
Exterior work done on the building includes the
skylights, roof repairs, tuckpointing the terracotta
front and brick east side of the building, new front
windows, new windows and doors to a concrete patio
area and a wrought iron balcony off the master
suite.
“One of the first things I did was gold
leaf the Farmers Savings Bank on the front of the
building, so it would stand out. We are in the
process of renovating the front door, which will
eventually be the main entrance to our home. The
other building is six-feet higher than the bank, so
I closed in the bank’s front staircase and recycled
that marble to steps from the bank to a landing and
the stairs to our current home. When finished, the
marble on the steps will be inlaid in solid oak,”
said Wareham.
As you enter the foyer, you walk through two
cherry oak French doors. To the left are a smaller
room and steps to the second level of both
buildings. The smaller room, the former bank
manager’s office, will be the children’s study area.
Wareham said, “Fifty-three years ago, my dad
signed the papers for Jim’s TV and Appliance in that
office.”
The atrium features 22-foot high walls, two large
ceiling fans, a skylight, marble and oak on the
walls, a 10-foot by 11- foot patio doors and windows
on the east wall and a wrought iron balcony off the
master suite.
“I researched patio doors online before I finally
found what I wanted. The doors are extra tall with
side windows and transom. There are no center posts
in the doors. It took Taylor Contracting over a week
to get a hole in the wall for the patio doors. This
building is built very soundly; the bricks could
fall off and the frame/skeleton would still stand.
They eventually brought in jackhammers that are used
to tear up roads to cut the hole for the doors and
windows,” Wareham said.
“We had just started working in the atrium and I
was wondering how I was going to work up where the
skylight is (25-feet high at the peak). Norm Behrens
(manager at the Odebolt branch of First State Bank)
came over and asked if the “Peacock” movie crew
could store skyjacks in my building at night. I
asked them if I could use them and they said, no
problem. We had to hustle to get the work done
before they left town. We worked at night, starting
at the top and working down.”
According to Wareham, Rod Bettin (Odebolt)
designed and made the two-foot crown molding for the
skylights and his sister-in-law helped him figure
out the materials and techniques needed to copy and
make a cornice for the west wall (the original
cornice was damaged by water).
The balcony features three types of wrought
iron—some simples, some Marquette (old bank style)
and part Orleans (to look like a New Orleans
balcony).
“At night, the skylights are dead, so Rod
designed a special crown molding with a 12½ degree
that allowed us to install lighting. When you hit
that switch, it brings the sky to life at night. In
the winter, when the trees are in the atrium, it
feels like you’re in a corner café down south, and
that’s just the feel I was looking for,” said
Wareham.
“A lot of the marble and original woodwork was
taken out of the building before I purchased it. I
have taken a lot of time to come as close to the
original as I can. I added the castle stone on the
walls, and we worked in our colors to add
architectural element to it. We did choose a
different color green than the green (color of
money) used in bygone days. The furnishings in the
atrium have that old-bank look to them, in keeping
with the architectural details of the building.”
As you move toward the back of the atrium, you
pass through a hallway with a brick wall. Wareham
said he cleaned the plaster off the brick and will
eventually seal it.
He said, “This hallway will be my gallery with
old black and white pictures on one wall and the
other wall dedicated to the movie “Peacock.” One of
my trees appears three times in the movie, so I’m
hoping to get a movie poster and put up some of the
photographs I took while it was being filmed.”
The solid oak back stairway has been refinished
and leads up to a room that will be an office/ guest
room, complete with its own bathroom.
The front of the building will house the Warehams’
master suite, which will include the bedroom with
balcony and skylight, a huge walk in closet and a
master bathroom, featuring glass block walls to the
toilet and steam shower, jetted tub and lounge.
“Every town has these buildings, and once you
start working on one of them you find a ton of
character and craftsmanship. I think, 100 years ago,
builders did their very best, while today they are
more interested in getting the work done and getting
their money. This is my night and weekend job during
the winter. I take the summer off so I can spend
time with my kids.
“A lot of people thought we were crazy to do
this. It takes some imagination and a lot of work,
but it’s worth it. I’m just amazed at the interest
level people have shown. We took more than 100
people on tours during Odebolt Creek Days, even
though we hadn’t done much of anything yet. I never
expected that interest level.”
(NOTE:
Curt is looking for old photographs of the
bank, especially of the interior, since all the bank fixtures,
counters and cages were sold and removed many years ago. If you can
help him out, please contact him at Jim's TV or email the web master
at
 )
Read
another article about Wareham's bank - February 2011 |
