Stone sanctuary
Looking for a weird and wonderful country property unlike any other? This family sure found one.
Stan and Debra Berberich did not plan to buy a new home and definitely not an 11-acre site with a historic 12,000-square-foot stone barn. But they did. Now the large barn, originally built as a stable to house draft horses, fits the family that includes seven adult children and 11 grandchildren.
Before buying the stone acreage near Stone City, Iowa, the Berberiches lived in an Arts and Crafts-era home in Cedar Rapids. On a lark, the family drew up an unrestricted list of ideal attributes in a home. When they showed it to a pesky realtor, they thought it "would get rid of him fast," says Debra.
You must be kidding
The list included Debra's wish for an indoor basketball court, Stan's statement that he never wanted to own another wood-frame home that had to be painted, and youngest daughter Sarah's desire for a creek where she could catch "funny" things.
After the realtor read the list, he told Debra she had to be kidding, but she assured him she was not. Much to her surprise, the realtor returned to their doorstep early the following morning with a brand-new listing and a photo of the stone barn clutched in his hand.
When Debra opened the front door, he told her, "I don't know what there is about you lady, but there you go -- indoor basketball!"
The Berberiches bought the acreage and barn, which had an indoor basketball court on the second floor, and moved to Stone City in 2001. The large barn, with its surrounding acres, provides an ideal location and setting for family events, casual get-togethers and, of course, impromptu basketball games.
"We wanted a home where our adult children could bring their friends and families," says Debra.
Family, faith, friends, and hospitality are important factors in Debra and Stan's lives. Stan, a molecular geneticist, and Debra, an art major, take great joy in caring for their children and grandchildren. Debra has a natural ability to greet people with warmth, instantly putting all at ease.
Stan recalls the first time he and Debra went to see the barn. "My impression when driving up was, 'Why would they have poured so much concrete around this building?' Then I found out the barn was actually built on the bed of an old quarry floor."
The Berberich acreage and barn were once part of an estate created during the 1880s by John Green, one of Stone City's early entrepreneurs. Green moved to the area about 1850 to quarry the local dolomite limestone. He built the stone barn in 1889. The road to the Berberich acreage winds through land that was also once part of the old Green estate.
Just as it once provided a hard, easy-to-clean surface for stablemen to care for the quarry's draft horses, the limestone bedrock works well today as a parking lot, picnic areas, and playground for the Berberich grandchildren.
Soon after moving in, Stan and Debra learned that the area around their new home was the site for an annual Stone City event.
"I don't think we hardly had any boxes unpacked when a little pickup arrived at our door, and we were informed that the Grant Wood Art Festival is held on our front yard, which we knew nothing about," says Debra.
"They started out by asking us how we felt about having 6,000 people on our front yard, but assured us it would only be for one day," she adds with a chuckle.
The Berberiches agreed to allow the Festival to continue use of their site as part of the annual event held the second Sunday each June. The day celebrates and honors the life of internationally recognized area artist, Grant Wood (of American Gothic fame) and the Art Colony he operated in Stone City during the summers of 1932 and 1933.
Colorful reproduction ice wagons -- painted like the ones that Wood and fellow artists decorated and lived in during those summer sessions -- are brought from storage and placed on display. Entertainers perform on stage and wander through the crowds as selected artists sell their work. This creates a colorful tapestry of festival life against the green hills and stone buildings.
With its connection to Grant Wood and unique stone buildings, Stone City is a popular site for step-on bus tours. The Stone Barn is a point of interest to visiting groups. Debra, who always has the coffeepot on for friends and family, welcomes tour groups like old friends.
Lots to discover
The Berberiches have made many discoveries about their acreage. Two stone ruins located on their land are reminders of John Green's once-thriving quarry businesses. One ruin was a depot for a railway spur that Green used for hauling and shipping limestone blocks. The original use of another building remains a local mystery. Stan speculates that it might have been used for payroll since it was located near the depot. Tall, narrow windows with angled slits that could have provided protection from gunfire appears to support his theory.
A pile of limestone rocks near the Berberich drive contains more of the land's history. A large, limestone cross that was never completed is carefully positioned in the stone pile. Local legend says a corner broke off the cross as it was carved for the St. Joseph Church located a short distance from Stan and Debra's acreage. The discarded cross was unearthed by former owners a few years ago during land excavation and placed near the entry to the acreage.
While the stone barn is the heartbeat of the acreage, the land itself is a treasure of nature's wonders. A mix of hardwood oak, hickory, black locust, box elder, and mulberry trees cover the Iowa hillsides. Wildflowers grow profusely over the land during the spring and summer months.
"We have just about everything -- spring beauties, hepaticas, Dutchman's-breeches, and wild columbine," says Debra. Family members of all ages enjoy time spent exploring the timbered land. Debra adds that she particularly enjoys taking the little ones on nature hikes to pick up fall acorns or to discover wildflowers each spring.
Each Easter weekend is the scene of another Berberich family tradition: the Eggstreme Easter Hunt. Approximately 200 friends, coworkers, and church members gather at the acreaget. Stan chooses the path and hiding places for the adults' Easter egg hunt, where grown-ups become kids again as they forage through woods.
A neighboring farmer brings little lambs for the children to pet. And everyone enjoy a potluck dinner.
Stan, Debra, their children, spouses, and grandchildren fill the old stone barn with laughter and love -- all things that truly makes any dwelling a home.
There are only three sites in the world where fossil-free dolomite limestone exists: one in Russia, one in Italy, and one in Stone City, Iowa, near the Berberich acreage. In Iowa, the limestone formed approximately 420 million years ago.
This area of Iowa offers panoramic views of tree-covered hills, rolling farm fields, and winding streams. Buildings constructed from the local limestone are testimony to the men who quarried this stone and used it to build homes, churches, and schools. Solid and secure today as they were when built well over 100 years ago, each limestone building compliments the land from which it came.
At one time, seven quarries operated in Stone City, which was originally called the Anamosa Quarries, then the Stone City Quarries, and finally Stone City. Weber Stone Company, Inc, is the only active quarry in Stone City at this time. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, approximately 1,000 people lived in this unincorporated village. Fewer than 100 residents call it home today.
Grant Wood painted it
The iconic Iowa painter Grant Wood operated an art colony in Stone City during the summers of 1932 and 1933. Wood stood on a hill near the St. Joseph Catholic Church and painted Stone City as he saw it then, looking down into the valley and beyond.
A number of the stone structures in Stone City, including the Berberich stone barn, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photographs: Le Spearman
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Debra and Stan Berberich
12559 Country RD X28
Stone City, IA 52205