01 OKO 02-24

new
making old
again
TEXT BY KATE HARLOW
PHOTOGRAPHY BY EYELOVE PHOTO
OKOBOJI LIVING
Randall and Karen Stoeckel have worked to
bring back the beauty of this historic home on
Hill Avenue in Spirit Lake and offer it to visitors
as a short term rental property.
It takes a special ability to see a diamond in the rough. And
then special people who can take that diamond and polish it
until it shines.
Randall and Karen Stoeckel are some of those people.
But they don’t work on precious stones — it’s houses they like
to shine up. The one that most recently got a polish is located
on Hill Avenue in Spirit Lake.
Minneapolis residents, the Stoeckels were familiar with the
area before they decided to purchase and renovate the historic
home on Hill Avenue with the intentions of offering it up to
visitors to the Iowa Great Lakes as a short term rental property,
which is listed on vrbo.com.
“We’ve had a cabin on the north end of Spirit Lake for 22
years, and we’ve always driven up and down Hill Avenue admiring
all the beautiful, old historic homes,” Karen said. “This particular
house always caught my attention and I thought it would
be a really amazing renovation project. I just love big, beautiful
old homes, and had always dreamed of a white farmhouse.”
The house that caught their eye had been built in 1910 and
was locally well known in the neighborhood. The decision to
purchase the property happened quickly in 2021.
“It was the weekend before Labor Day and the house listing
had popped up on my Facebook feed. After going through the
pictures — I couldn’t believe this was same home we had admired
for so many years, and it was on the market,” Karen said.
“It was in fairly rough shape, but we could see the end potential
of the home. It seemed to be a serendipitous moment — it was
meant to be.”
After acquiring the property, Randall moved in to the house full
time during the chilly winter of 2022. He started renovations and
managed the many trades people that worked on the property.
28 OKOBOJI MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2024