A charming property for sale in Indianola inspires the question: Is it a family home with a bonus business attached, or a successful place 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 in close proximity to its commercial neighbors, but also a quiet, residential setting outside regular business hours.
Accessible to Indianola Town Square via Salem Court Alley, dance and ballet teacher Ellen Belle Foster began hosting classes in her basement in 1954. She later teamed up with Richard Powell to create Foster Powell Dance and offer creative inspiration for generations of Iowa students.
Foster later expanded the business across the backyard into a custom-designed 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 credit for both establishments.
“You’re 100 yards from the post office and everything that’s going on in the town square,” Baker said.
Built in 1920, the one-and-a-half-story, 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 bookshelves. It connects to a second light-filled family area and a separate, more formal dining section. The kitchen has been upgraded with new appliances and includes an inviting breakfast nook under a stained glass window. Also on the first floor there is a laundry room and a former bedroom which has been turned into a home office.
Upstairs, the home adds three bedrooms, including the master 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 very meticulous about everything she has done. 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 there might 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 options to lease the building to another company, or even turn the house into an AirBnB for extra income.
The carefully decorated outdoor space has proven popular for graduation and wedding photos. Inside the main building, the Studio features a small kitchen area, audio-visual equipment and a mirrored wall should a new resident decide to continue dance classes.
Other ideas proposed by Baker include a daycare center, insurance agency or an Etsy project ready for a larger footprint in a commercial environment that Baker believes is healthy and growing.
“It is going very well. The city actually did some commercial beautification projects for the 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 by 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
Asking price: $725,000
Year of construction: 1920
Square footage: 2465 square meters
Lot size: 0.26 hectares
Richard Lane is a freelance writer for the Des Moines Register. If you have a home we should feature, contact Susan Stapleton at sstapleton@gannett.com.
