HARTLEY, Iowa | There's a surprise in nearly every room of a Hartley, Iowa, home covering 5,000 square feet.
Bedrooms? Oklahoma size.
Closets? Walk-in. Every one of them. (One of them can double as a den.)
Den? Yes. And it's the least-used room in a home of active young people.
Laundry room? Massive; measuring 13.5 feet by 8 feet. Busy too, averaging three-plus loads per day.
Man room? Yes, the top floor. Interestingly, it's where daughter Molly hangs out.
Music room? Check. It's listened to flute, piano and trumpet practice sessions through the years.
The biggest surprise may be the biggest feature of the home. It's a 700-pound pub-style kitchen table that seats at least 20. It features a quartz top with a removable section where homeowners Chris and Krista Ahmann serve beer on ice or shrimp on ice, depending on their mood and their guests.
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"Shrimp or beer?" Krista Ahmann asks with a laugh. "It's like asking, 'Lakes or Remsen?'"
The former Krista Marx, one of five children, and Chris Ahmann, one of four, both hail from Remsen, Iowa, originally. The Plymouth County town dubbed "Beer City" has two natives comfortably serving cold suds from their massive pub-style table in a 5-year-old home immediately south of Hartley's city limits.
The dream table, created this year by Great Lakes Countertops & Kitchens in nearby Lake Park, Iowa, helps complete the couple's dream home.
"I grew up in a family of seven," Krista says, looking at their youngest daughter, Molly, 16. "We had one bathroom and got along fine. I think we're spoiling our kids something fierce."
The Ahmanns moved nearly a half-dozen times as they raised their tribe. They brought a bit of each home back to Hartley when they had Hengeveld construct this home on six acres, only 30 minutes from the Iowa Great Lakes.
Oklahoma has a sizable influence, one seen in...well...size.
"In Oklahoma there are no basements so the kids' bedrooms are huge as that's where they have their toys," Krista says. "Bedrooms here are generally 10 feet by 10 feet. Ours are much bigger, based on that Oklahoma influence."
Molly's bedroom, decorated in colors "Zippity Do Daa" (a neon green) and "Infinity Pool" (bright blue), measures 12 feet by 15 feet. Her Pottery Barn bed has a bed tucked underneath, one that pulls out for a friend's sleepover, or for hosting one of many cousins. Beneath the pull-out bed are three drawers she uses.
Just down the hall is son Zac's bedroom, also done in a version of blue. Initially, the home didn't have a fifth bedroom. The Ahmanns thought son Zac, 24, of Des Moines, would take a living room couch when he visited. Zac had different ideas.
"I told Zac he could have a couch when he came home, but that didn't fly," Krista says, flashing an ever-present smile.
The master bedroom and a basement bedroom are larger yet, at 15 feet by 15 feet. The master bedroom, just off a giant laundry room, has a big bathroom with a double vanity and a spacious walk-in closet. Directly beneath this bedroom is son Brady's basement bedroom, one featuring a closet with a chair. The closet is just shy of 10 feet by 9 feet.
"Brady could do his homework in his closet," says Krista, of their recently graduated 18-year-old Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School senior.
Brady's graduation party, held at home, saw guests milling around or simply planting themselves in a spacious kitchen, one that rises above hardwood floors illuminated sharply with under-cabinet bulbs. Shaw's of Okoboji, Iowa, according to Krista, did all the home's woodwork.
Older brother Alex, 21, sat at the pub-style table with about 20 buddies.
"The kitchen is the most used room in the house," Krista explains. "We have 18 to 20 family members stay with us at Christmas."
Actually, it's one of two kitchens in the home. The walk-out basement (with two south-facing walk-out doors) not only has a music room and two bedrooms, it has a full kitchen, a giant game/TV room, complete with another homespun surprise sprung on Mom.
"Alec's deer head is on this wall," Krista says, shaking her head. "He put it up when I was gone."
Like nearly every room in Hartley's only "mountain green" (the official color)Â house, there's an element of laughter and surprise. And yes, more are coming.
"Eventually Chris wants a pond south of the house," Krista says.
She assumes she'll know about the pond as it takes shape, unlike the deer head downstairs.Â
