Out the north windows of the Iola Register, the staff has enjoyed watching the renovation taking place the last several months at the home of Robbie and Lorna Atkins at 224 S. Walnut. 
First a new roof, then new siding, an expansive porch, a new sidewalk, and lastly, the painting of the ornate trim that encompasses the upstairs windows. Still to come are new windows, additional facing for the porch’s pillars and guttering.
The renovations have given a tired, old house a new life.
The work actually began more than 10 years ago, with the gutting of their kitchen, a downstairs bathroom and utility room. Then two years ago, the garage and back porch were renovated.
“And there’s still work to do,” said Robbie Atkins, a deputy sheriff for Woodson County Sheriff’s Department who’s also lending the Yates Center Police Department a hand when needed.
The Atkinses purchased the home in 1982.
“It was a fixer-upper even then,” Atkins said. “Raising four kids, it was kind of hard to work on the house and everything else, so we’ve been working on it gradually.”
Atkins said the timing of the recent work occurred when Yates Center contractor Jason Cathard and his brother, John, had a lull in what has been a very busy season. 
“He’s building a series of duplexes for the City of Chanute and is waiting for materials,” said Atkins. What is one man’s misfortune is the fortune of another.
“Well, not exactly,” said Atkins. “We were supposed to start this last year, but he overbooked himself and fell behind.”
Renovating a house at a busy intersection is the best advertising a contractor can get, Atkins said. “Jason has done a lot of expensive houses, but he said this is the first project where he’s received so much attention.”
“People stop by all the time to visit with him. Now he’s booked two years out.”
Atkins guesses his home was built somewhere between 1892 or 1992.
“I love this old place. I’ve tried to keep as close to the original design as possible. We’ve left all the gas pipes in place.”
Now that the children are grown and gone, it’s a mighty big home for just the two. 
“I tried to get them out of that house and into a one-story, newly built house, but they’d have nothing to do with it,” said Scott Atkins, a son.
“I’ve been told I’m stubborn,” admitted Robbie, age 74.
Looking ahead, the upstairs is next. “The floors need to be redone, and the walls. They’re still lath and plaster. We find all kinds of stuff once we start tearing those apart, including copies of the Iola Register from 120 years ago.”
“We still have a lot of work to do, but we’ve made progress, and that always feels good.”
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