A charming property for sale in Indianola inspires the question: Is it a family home with a bonus business on top, or a successful venue with the added convenience of a three-bedroom home?
Listed for sale by realtor Josh Baker, the 2,465-square-foot primary home is located on First Avenue, a prime location conveniently close to its commercial neighbors, but also a quiet and residential setting outside normal business hours.
Accessible to Indianola’s Town Square through the Salem Court alley, tap dance and ballet teacher Ellen Belle Foster began teaching classes in the home’s basement in 1954. She later collaborated with Richard Powell to create Foster Powell Dance and provide creative inspiration to generations of Iowa students.
Foster later expanded the business across the home’s courtyard into a custom-built 1,568-square-foot building known as The Studio. Now a popular local venue for weddings, parties and photo shoots, The Studio generates steady income that can offset the loan on both structures.
“You’re 100 yards from the post office, and everything that’s happening in the town square,” Baker said.
Built in 1920, the Craftsman-style home includes a front porch to admire the neighborhood and a private outdoor space that can be enjoyed when not occupied by clients or photographers.
Inside the front door, the living space is gathered around a fireplace and built-in bookshelves. It joins a second, light-filled family area and a separate, more formal dining area. The kitchen has been upgraded with new appliances and includes an attractive breakfast nook under a stained glass window. Also on the first floor there is a laundry room and a former bedroom that has been converted into a working home office.
Upstairs, the home adds three bedrooms, including the primary suite that shares a room that could be used as a nursery, second office or dressing room.
Baker admired the work Foster put into maintaining the house. “There have been many updates. She is so meticulous about everything she did. And she’s an artist, so you know her house is beautiful,” he said.
The location and decades of name recognition within Indianola make it ideal for a local looking to expand their connection to the community. But Baker also suggested, “I think it could be someone out of town looking for the right space.”
He noted that while The Studio business could be run by the next owner, there were opportunities to lease the building to another company, or even turn the home into an AirBnB for additional income.
The meticulously manicured outdoor space has proven popular for graduation and wedding photos. Inside the main building, The Studio features a small kitchen area, audiovisual equipment and a mirror wall if a new resident decides to continue the dance classes.
Other ideas proposed by Baker include a daycare center, insurance agency or an Etsy project poised for a larger footprint in a commercial environment that Baker believes is healthy and growing.
“It’s going very well. The city actually did some commercial beautification projects for places around the square to promote all the businesses. I love the property, and I want to find the right person for it,” he added.
The home is listed at $725,000 through Josh Baker of Iowa Realty Indianola. Contact him at 515-559-4103 for more information and a private showing.
More about this house
Where: 104 W. First Ave., Indianola
Ask price: $725,000
Year Built: 1920
Square footage: 2,465 square feet
Lot size: 0.26 hectares
Richard Lane is a freelance writer for the Des Moines Register. If you have a home we need to offer, contact Susan Stapleton at sstapleton@gannett.com.