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Determination to save house pays off in finished product

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But, Mostafa Ardestani took a risk on buying it, saving it and restoring it. He made it happen and it is now a completely different place. (Photo by Correne Martin)

Two years ago, this dilapidated house, at the corner of Beaumont and Wisconsin in Prairie du Chien, was ready for a county auction.

Pictured, from a different corner of the room, is the main kitchen completely redone with modern colors and textiles.

This was just one of the bedrooms inside the residence, before. After purchasing the house, Mostafa Ardestani hired out a complete remodel. He braced a falling down exterior wall, redid the upstairs ceiling entirely and basically overhauled every surface from the basement to the roof. It has gone from uninhabitable to impressive.

By Correne Martin

 

For the past two years, Mostafa Ardestani has spent almost every moment of his free time at the two-story, brick house on the corner of Beaumont and Wisconsin, which he bought at a county auction with the intent to renovate.

“The building, everybody thought it should be torn down,” he recalled. “It was risky, very risky. I didn’t know if I could fix it or not. I lot of people came and looked and said we couldn’t do it.”

But, Mostafa, whose career was in civil engineering, knew the Prairie du Chien house had a solid foundation. He was allowed inside, prior to purchasing, and inspected it. The foundation was what gave him the confidence to follow through with his ideas for refurbishment.

“For almost 10 years, nobody looked at this place. The brick was caving in along Wisconsin Street,” he said. “My wife couldn’t believe it after I got this. She said ‘you are crazy!’”

Mostafa understood his family’s concerns, but his vision was strong that the house could be saved. He got that in his mind and he had to meet that challenge. 

He admits, it took a lot of physical and emotional effort, time and money—as well as patience from his wife, Nooshin, and daughter, Setareh, who also provided her design expertise and recommendations. 

Last week, he called it finished. 

The house is structurally sound and secure, and the interior is nearly brand new, featuring a modern and clean, white and gray canvas. Much of the original design character within was kept, with new amenities added.

“I [renovated it] acting as if it was for myself,” he stated. Actually, at one time, it was supposed to be a college graduation gift for Setareh, though he said she is no longer planning to live in Prairie du Chien.

Mostafa, who estimated he did 30 percent of the construction work himself, has now listed the unit for sale. 

Completed as a duplex, one side has three bedrooms, and the other has one and a half bedrooms. Both sides have separate entrances, a full kitchen and full bathroom, and a porch out back. There is a one-vehicle garage behind the house, with enough parking space off the street for three additional vehicles. It’s insulated very well, which keeps out a lot of the potential noise from the location in Prairie du Chien’s downtown district. The bricks on the exterior have been restored where necessary with locally-matched replacements.

“I’m selling it as one building,” Mostafa said, sharing ideas of several different styles of families that may want to live in the home. 

Mostafa believes the building is historic. He was told it used to be a farm house in the Lynxville area before the dam was built there in 1936. The story was that the house was moved to Prairie du Chien, where the cream-colored brick was later added. He also learned that, about 50 years ago, music teacher Theresa Powers lived there. 

Ultimately, Mostafa’s product of labor and endurance can now be passed on to the next owners, in a world’s better condition than it was. But not without a memory: a few of the bushes incorporated into the property’s landscaping were raised by Mostafa and now will grow there with the new residents.

“A lot of people have stopped (when I’m here) to see what I was doing,” he noted, acknowledging the stress such a project can entail. “Once I start something, I gotta finish.”

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