Two Women Build Their Own House
By John Reynolds.
Gazette Sunday Editor.

DECORAH –– Although they are enjoying it now and are pretty well satisfied with the fruits of their own manual labor, neither Dorisgene Doerr or Lillian Dickman ever want to build another house.

“At its worst, school teaching is still easier – – -.” say the two Decorah teachers who last summer actually built their own house –– a handsome little one-story, five-room dwelling at 107 Spring street.

Miss Doerr, who teaches second grade in West Side school here, and miss Dickman, who teaches a rural school at Bluffton, nine miles northwest of Decorah, had made their home together for some time.

But they had always lived in apartments and apartment rents had been high. Looking at the matter from a  practical stand-point, they figured they could build a house and have something to show for their money –– something more than a receipt for the rent each month.

Father a Big Help

Having arrived at the decision to build, the young women found they had both moral and technical support from Miss Doerr’s father, John Doerr, a farmer near Calmar.

Had it not been for the encouragement they received from various persons and the technical assistance and actual work which Mr. Doerr put into the job, the teachers might not have been so successful, they readily admit.

After months of poring over home magazines and house plans for ideas, Dorisgene and Lillian finally roughed out a sketch of what they wanted for a home.

Mr. Doerr then stepped into the picture with real assistance. He scaled their plans into practical shape and they were ready to build.

Excavated in June.

Excavation for the house was begun June 6. And the teachers moved into the house Aug. 6 . . . into the basement, that is.

“Our time was up at the other place,” Miss Doerr explained, “and as long as we had some kind of roof over our heads we weren’t going to spend any more money in rent. We moved in and went right on working to finish the job.

By doing so much of the work themselves –– they personally spent more than 1,000 woman-hours on the job –– Miss Doerr and Miss Dickman believe they saved about $4,500. Mr. Doerr contributed more than 600 hours to the project.

The handsome little house, modern in every detail and tastefully decorated and furnished, today is valued by the owners at about $12,000 to $13,000.

Hired Some Work Done.

Even with Mr. Doerr’s help the young women still had to hire done such things as the excavation, the plumbing, heating, wiring.

And there were uncounted hours of aid from neighbors and friends who would drop over with a cooling drink and then stay to lend a hand for a little while here and there.

“Unluckily we drew the hottest summer in years to do the job in,” Miss Dickman remembers. “We almost baked on some of those days when the sun beat down on us while we worked.”

House is 30 by 35 Feet.

The Doerr-Dickman domicile measures about 30 by 35 feet, with the longest dimension facing Spring street. The lot on which the house was built is 55 feet wide by 137 1/2 feet long. 

Width will allow for the addition of a car port, when the teachers feel they can afford it, and for patio and garden in the rear.

The patio floor of concrete already has been laid. To decorate it, the teacher-builders set the bottom of a pail in the wet cement to make an outline and an impression –– and then painted these circles in yellow.

The Spring street house has probably the only yellow sidewalk in Decorah.

But that’s not a paint job. The sidewalk was laid with tinted cement.

Easy-to-Clean House.

The house was built with one particular thing in mind: Keep it simple and easy to care for and clean.

The teachers looked forward to having a house but, when they’re gone all day and Dorisgene teaches tap dancing some nights, they didn’t want housekeeping to be burdensome.

Floors throughout the house are linoleum tile.

The little house has lots of closet space and space is saved around the closet areas with the use of sliding doors. For the protection of their garments the teachers have one closet that is cedar-lined.

There’s a good deal of panel finishing on the walls, such as the redwood shadow wood in the living room. Sheetrock was used on the interior throughout the house.

All windows are a combination type made by the nearby Calmar Manufacturing Company.

Handy Arrangement.

Because both young women must ready themselves for school and leave at the same time each morning, they have a double makeup bar in their bathroom.

The house was built to have two bedrooms, but one of these is used now as a den.

A long kitchen, about 20 by 10 (including dinette), and a living room that is 18 by 12 feet in size are every commodious.

The bedroom the teachers occupy is about 14 by 14 feet and the smaller one, now the den, at the back of the house is 10 by 10 feet.

Heating-system for the house is hot water through baseboard heaters and the teacher-builders explain it has “been very satisfactory.”

Unusual Support.

The Dickman-Doerr house has one unusual supporting member. A heavy piece of railroad steel in a single beam runs the entire width of the house. The builders point it out when they show the basement.

Miss Doerr, who instructs her young dancing pupils down there, has decorated the walls. The basement has a stool so that the pupils need not disturb the teachers’ living quarters by going upstairs to the bathroom. A phone jack was installed in the basement and this makes handy communication for Miss Doerr when she’s down there with a class.