Chateau on the Prairie, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 22nd 2008 at 1:02PM

Out on the flats of the prairie in Johnston, Iowa, sits this surprising home, a French-styled chateau plunked down into the heart of the midwest. This ten-year-old home presents an elegant exterior with it's tree-lined driveway but inside it's a bit quirky. You've got a sort of country kitchen, a dark wood study packed to the brim with fish and game trophies and antiques everywhere. The first floor public rooms have columns and some charming plaster details but then you've got my personal pet peeve, those round lights inset into the ceilings in the bedrooms which rather destroy the classic effect. The home is 8264 square feet and there are five bedrooms. The exterior includes a private pond and a swimming pool on 4.66 acres. It's a lot of house for not that much money, it's listed at $1.495 million.

Gallery: Prairie Chateau

Tags: chateau, estate of the day, iowa

Filed under: Estates

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Henry Feb 22nd 2008 1:22PM

What surprises me most is the aerial picture where other houses of similar (though not equal) size are visible. I gather this is an affluent area of Des Moines. The listing price makes this quite a bargain compared to the 2,000ft/2 condo you could get in my neck of the woods.

2 points:
Fire the decorator
Driveways long enough to drag race on are a selling feature.

Travis D Feb 22nd 2008 2:40PM

Wow. More proof (if ever more were needed) that gobs of cash and absolutely zero taste can be a deadly combination. And the stuffed animals...

Yikes.

Syd Feb 22nd 2008 2:53PM

Quirky? Did you mean to say "looks like ass"?

Aron Feb 22nd 2008 4:44PM

Hmmm, Always wondered where bad taste moved to.

Joel H Robbins Feb 22nd 2008 6:31PM

The house is spectacular from the outside, but then you go in..........

abarnes8999 Feb 22nd 2008 10:02PM

"Something wrong, Mr. Ventura?"
"Of course not. This is a lovely room of death."

Rich Feb 23rd 2008 10:59AM

"You must have really hated that moose."

- Arthur -

Robin Feb 28th 2008 9:36AM

I have never really understood the concept of decorating with dead animals..

TBOU Feb 29th 2008 1:03AM

The house is OK, but it's wayyy too big for that lot and looks out of proportion with everything because there are other homes too close to it.

Pat Mar 1st 2008 9:38PM

Wow! Any idea who built this? I'm interested in the juxtaposition of the cheap aluminum fencing around the pool and the ugly concrete driveway with the grand balustrades and other features. Sort of a manor meets tract house. What's going on with the lion on the roof? It's priced low because, I'm guessing, there are not too many prospective buyers in Iowa with similar taste.