SIOUX CITY -- Mike Christiansen built a home in Cherokee, Iowa, which was decorated all in taupe. But the lover of art and color found it "boring" and "blah."
"I just wanted something a little louder and funner, so I built this," Christiansen said as he stood on the first level of his concrete deck, as hues of yellow, orange and pink exploded in front of him over Sioux City's skyline at sunset.
The 5,700-square-foot brick and stone ranch-style home with copper awnings is one-of-a-kind. It sits on a 3.3 acres in the city's Morningside neighborhood and features stunning views, which can be seen from custom windows.
Christiansen, who recently put his home on the market in an effort to downsize in retirement, said he feels a bit sad to let it go. It took him roughly two years to build, beginning in 2005.
"It's time to let someone else enjoy it," Christiansen said before climbing the stairs to the deck's covered second level, passing the grill and entering glass doors into the home's large eat-in kitchen.Â
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Decorative pillars separate the two spaces in Mike Christiansen's home.
The kitchen features a breakfast area, Roman gold limestone countertops and an oversized cherry island. Although the kitchen, dining room and great room are open to each other, white pillars perched on see-through shelving between the dining and great room provide definition. Barb Maxon, a realtor with Century 21 ProLink, said Christiansen was ahead of his time.Â
"Mike was doing an open floor plan before an open floor plan was even popular. And, this color of light fixtures -- that's what we're doing now," she said pointing to the brushed nickel chandelier hanging in the foyer. Â
The late Patty Thompson, of Thompson Interior Design, decorated the home. The bold colors and swirl design on two upholstered chairs sitting in the great room inspired the home's colors.Â
"She had all kinds of ideas and introduced a lot of cool things and colors," Christiansen said. "She showed me a whole bunch of fabric and I picked out that fabric and we worked off that."
The walls in the kitchen, dining and living area are painted shades of yellow and green and the flooring is hand scraped walnut. The light-blue ceiling in the great room is 16 feet high and accented with double crown molding. Natural light floods through two sets of transom windows flanking the gas fireplace.
The kitchen sits beside the living room in an open floor plan with decorative pillars separating the two spaces.
The double entry glass front doors with a curved design and the formal dining room's curved wall and sheetrock ceiling with crown molding add additional dramatic flair.Â
"Originally, I designed it as a coffered ceiling that went up and then I didn't like it, so I filled it in and brought it down," Christiansen said of the ceiling in the dining room. "I wanted to separate it somehow. The spaces are so big."
Also on the main level is a laundry room, office, half bathroom and the master suite.
The office exudes warmth and elegance with its cherry-beamed ceilings and wainscoting. On the other side of the office, the half bathroom pays homage to the sea. Iridescent tiles surround a triangular mirror and the sink, while a pebble and seashell mosaic runs up a blue wall with circular lit cubbies holding large seashells.Â
"At different vacations the boys and I went on, we picked up shells and rocks and stuff like that. I had a couple one-gallon ice cream buckets full of them, and I had that space in the back. I filled it in and took some PVC pipe and drilled holes in it," Christiansen said. "We wanted it like flowing with all the water and the colors and the blues and the shells."
The master bathroom of this 5,700-square-foot brick and stone ranch-style home in Sioux City has a Roman theme with pillars and dome ceiling with accent lights to illuminate the sky painting.
At the end of the hallway is the master suite. The light-blue room has a double tray ceiling, gas fireplace and walk-in closet. The master bathroom has a special Roman-themed dome that is painted like the sky. White pillars stretch from the side of the whirlpool tub to the ceiling. Double vanities with limestone counters, heated floors and a walk-in shower with Italian tile round out the space.Â
"It's the like the Venetian," Maxon said of the ceiling.Â
Christiansen interjected, "I think I was inspired from a casino. Caesar's Palace, probably."
Walk down the staircase in the great room to the lower level, where you'll find a family room that walks out to a large patio, game room area with space for a pool table, steam room, two more bedrooms with egress windows and double closets, another bathroom, 1,200-bottle thermostatically-controlled wine cellar with cork wallpaper, and, a wet bar with cherry cabinets, enclosed fish tank and eye-catching ceiling.
Another view of the fish tank bar.Â
"I kind of built the bar around the fish and the theme of fish. This is the waves," Christiansen said, pointing to the plastic and metal waved ceiling above the bar.Â
Maxon said the house is the only house that she has come across in her 45 years in real estate that has a waved ceiling.Â
"That's why I love this house. It's such a fun house," she said. "Everywhere you go, you just are happy."
Photos: More looks inside Mike Christiansen's Sioux City home
PHOTOS: Inside Mike Christiansen's Sioux City home
Mike Christiansen's home overlooks Sioux City.
Mike Christiansen's home overlooks Sioux City.
A customized ceiling in the dining area beside the front door hold a chandelier under the glow of the accent lighting.
The kitchen sits beside the living room in an open floor plan with decorative pillars separating the two spaces.
Fall colors of orange, red, and blue decorate the living room.
Fall colors of orange, red, and blue decorate the living room.
Decorative pillars separate the two spaces in Mike Christiansen's home.
Mike Christiansen raises the motorized vent over the gas stove in his large kitchen.
The front room is set up as a perfect office and includes a beamed ceiling.
A second dining area beside the kitchen includes a television and sitting area under the windows with views overlooking Sioux City.
Mike Christiansen stands on the stairs of his home in Sioux City.
A main floor bathroom is decorated with seashells.
A main floor bathroom is decorated with seashells collected and arranged by Mike Christiansen and his two sons.
The master bathroom of this 5,700-square-foot brick and stone ranch-style home in Sioux City has a Roman theme with pillars and dome ceiling with accent lights to illuminate the sky painting.
The master bathroom has a rainfall showerhead with jets on both sides of the walls.
The downstairs area can be used as a game room or living room complete with bedrooms, a steam room and a bar.
Another view of the fish tank bar.Â
The bar downstairs was decorated to follow the theme of the fish tank set into the back wall.
The full bathroom downstairs has dual sinks and a bright color scheme.
A steam room opposite the bar downstairs is equipped with timer controls and a speaker in the ceiling wired to a sound system which plays music throughout Mike Christiansen's home.
The humidity controlled wine cellar.
The large, humidity controlled wine cellar downstairs has cork walls.
The cement deck and back patio boast barbeques and a fire pit.
Mike Christiansen's home overlooks Sioux City.
