MOVILLE, Iowa | Dax and Randi Weaver kept an "idea drawer" for years during their lives together. One of them might see a magazine photo or spread and wonder if such an idea, collection or decoration might work in their dream home.
Then, in 2015, they constructed a new five-bedroom, three-bathroom home at The Ridge, a burgeoning residential development at the northern end of Terrtam Drive in Moville. The effort by H&H Builders, for whom Dax had worked years ago, allowed them to pick and choose ideas from that drawer.
"We searched different building plans online and we'd email each other about ideas and things we were seeing," said Randi, a marketing specialist at Wiatel, the communications cooperative based in nearby Lawton, Iowa, and the development force behind The Ridge.
"We'd always thought about building a home."
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The Weavers, who had lived in Moville since October 2005, put their existing home on Jackson Street up for sale. The home sold in three days, prompting the couple and their young son, Julian, to move in with Dax's folks, Kelly and Susi Weaver, in Moville, while their two-story home was under construction.
"Our timing with the housing market here was great," said Dax, who has worked for the past 10 years in sales at Wilson Trailer Co., in Sioux City.
The Weavers bought 1 1/2 lots at The Ridge, splitting an adjacent lot with a neighboring couple who began construction when they did. The Weavers sought a walk-out basement, a floor plan that maybe didn't have possibilities elsewhere in Moville.
Construction began in July 2015 and ended that December. The home, which features 2,000 square feet on both levels, has an expansive front porch, an offset garage, three bathrooms, a home office and a basement painted in "Cyclone Cardinal" red and decked out in all sorts of Iowa State University mementos, perfect for this pair of ISU graduates.
The basement game-room and open kitchenette/bar area invite activity and high-fives after Cyclone baskets and touchdowns. It's a much different style from the classic look on the main floor. The family, Randi said, divides time between both levels.
"We had wanted a look that had an old, classic look to it," Randi said of the exterior and main floor.
They certainly succeeded on the exterior and in a main floor living room that shows well atop an oak floor that has the ability to be sanded down and refinished two to three times.
"Finding the right flooring was tough, because we weren't seeking something trendy," Dax said. "We wanted a timeless look that will last forever."
The fireplace is stocked with wood Dax cuts at the Weaver farm outside Moville.
The living room's light fixture is an old welded piece of iron the couple found at West End Architectural Salvage in Omaha. The mantel is another salvage project -- a piece of yellow pine that once served as a rafter beam.
"That mantelpiece was filthy," Dax said. "We cleaned it, but then left it rough."
A similar piece of wood serves as a shelf in the master bathroom, supported by industrial pipe, per Dax's creative hands and mind.
A cowhide covers a portion of the floor in the living room, and a similar painting hangs above Dax's desk in his office. Nearby, there's an end-table supporting a small collection of pipes and tobacco. Like his late grandfather, Willard Countryman, Dax on occasion fires up a pipe. There's also a stained glass window hanging whose frame was built and fitted by Willard, a man whom Dax helped on construction projects years ago.
Willard, as he did for every woman who entered the family, presented a hand-made wooden chest to Randi after their wedding. It has a place at the foot of their bed, a bed whose matching nightstands were created by the couple, taken from an old desk that had been in Randi's family since its days in Ocheyedan, Iowa.
Dax built an entry table and the dining room table from wood he salvaged from an old barn that belongs to his dad.
There's even a chair in the main floor living room that Randi found and recovered herself. "Call it 'shabby-chic,'" she said with a laugh.
Pictures from Hilton Coliseum and Jack Trice Stadium lead guests to the family room in the basement, one dressed in an ISU "Cardinal red" matched by the paint pros at Sherwin Williams. The bar/kitchenette was constructed in an open way, allowing guests to serve themselves whenever they wish.
And while the living room ceiling peak upstairs reaches about 15 feet, the basement ceiling still exceeds 8 1/2 feet, allowing lots of room for Dax (he stands 6 feet, 3 inches tall) and the games he and Julian play.
Two bedrooms and an impressive toy room for Julian give the family all sorts of room to move and yet stay active.
There are two gathering areas off both levels on the north side of the home, one for grilling (on the covered composite deck) and one for sitting by the fire pit, with a nearly unlimited view of stars, crops and pasture.
Just around the corner stands a playground, a spot for the public, one utilized primarily by homeowners at The Ridge. The Weavers, who built the seventh house on this tract, are very happy with a mix of young families and retirees making their home in this new neighborhood. As of now, there are 15 lots sold, enough to help trigger the second of a three-phase development.
"This was also the first place in town with fiber capabilities," Randi said, noting how the technological advancements put in place by her employer allow the family to stream Cyclone games. Other state-of-the-art bells and whistles surround motion senors and thermostats/door locks accessed with a touch from a smartphone.
"Since we were building a new house, we decided to go with all those 'smart' apps," Randi said.
"We knew what we wanted when we built the house," she concluded. "I don't think we'd do anything different."
The "idea drawer" and their builders, obviously, served the Weavers well.
