Jeff Ready says his life has been a balance between space and stuff — finding enough space to store his stuff.
Now, he has an additional 9,000 square feet of space, some of which will be refitted as a home for himself and wife Dawn. A week ago the Readys purchased the old First Christian Church, Buckeye and East streets.
The Readys will use the church’s neo-classical annex as their home, and the church itself, completed in 1948, for perhaps a venue for entertaining.
The annex was built in 1906 by H.V. Dresbach, Iola mayor 1905-07, as his home. It was on the verge of being converted to a mortuary when the First Christian congregation decided to build a new church on a vacant lot just to the north.
The house was moved a few feet to the east — Ready likes the idea that it has a 1947 foundation and not one from 1906 — and a stately turret on the north side was lopped off to accommodate its connection to the church. The complex was in use until the new Christian Church on North Kentucky opened July 4, 2010.
The first floor of the house was opened to accommodate church functions, but the second story remains about as it was with several rooms and decorative windows that Ready finds particularly appealing.
All that is needed to make the house livable, he said, is expansion of half baths to full.
The church and its spacious sanctuary with round windows on east and west ends that previously held stained glass will remain as is for now. The church is sturdy, with solid brick walls, not just brick veneer, sitting on solid concrete footings, Ready noted.
“I like the space,” Ready said, but is unsure if or when pews will be moved.
Only immediate plans he has — “I’m a person more of thought than action” — may be to have a party in the sanctuary next April 15.
Why then?
“That’s the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking,” an event a Renaissance man such as Ready would think to commemorate.
THE READYS lived several years in a large and stately home at 417 E. Madison until a fire two years ago gutted the structure and forced them to move to a rental.
They have seven grown children between them and four grandchildren. Both Readys work for Southeast Kansas Mental Health; he in Iola and she in Chanute.
From the day he arrived in Iola, Ready has been immensely interested in its history, which has prompted him to accumulate many postcards with images of the city, and other memorabilia.
He is enthralled by Iola’s downtown buildings, and recently purchased the old Masonic Hall, 8 N. Washington Ave., with the thought of converting the second floor into living quarters until “my wife counted the 26 steps of the staircase,” and found that too many for daily goings and comings, he said. The Christian Church and adjoining house have only cursory steps, even a ramp.
“I’d had my eye on the church for some time,” Ready said, but when the Readys decided to buy, they found making the purchase a chore.
“With the new mortgage regulations (from the housing market collapse) we had trouble finding anyone to finance it,” he said. “It isn’t a church anymore, it’s not considered residential and it’s not commercial property,” which put lenders at arm’s length.
In stepped Larry Nelson, president of Piqua State Bank, who negotiated a loan, and Piqua State “became my favorite hometown bank,” Ready said.
