In its former life as a fraternity house, more than 30 people lived in this house at a time with two bedrooms on the first floor, eight bedrooms and a bath on the second floor, four bedrooms and a bath on the third floor, and a bedroom in the basement.

by Rhonda Powell
for The Gazette

Many homes in Iowa City come with rich histories, often soliciting the popular phrase “if only walls could talk.” However, one particular home on this year’s Remodelers Parade has a bit more color than the rest.

A large brick building located at the corner of North Dubuque and Brown streets, which has been home to several fraternities over the years, was recently converted into three luxury condos.

“I thought it was pretty spectacular,” says Bill Frantz, president of Frantz Construction Company in Iowa City, which made the conversion. “Because of the location and the size of the building we thought it could warrant some upscale condos.”

According to Frantz, this was the company’s first condo conversion and he was drawn in by the history of the building and the possibilities it presented.

“I’m really interested in unique projects,” he explains.

The house, built in 1925, had been the home of the Kappa Sigma fraternity for many years. In recent years, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity had also called it home.
Frantz Construction took the former three-floor, 18-bedroom frat house and turned it into three luxury condos, each encompassing one floor of the home. The job took about 10 months to complete.

The first two floors are each 2,300 square feet and feature two fireplaces, two bedrooms, a full kitchen, a main bathroom, and a master suite. The first floor has already been sold.

“On the first floor we kept all the large baseboard and trim work around the French doors as well as leaving the 10-ft. high ceilings,” Frantz says.
The third floor, which is smaller due to the roof design, is just under 1,500 square feet and features one bathroom, one bedroom, a fireplace, and a rooftop patio deck.

Each condo offers a beautiful view of Hancher Auditorium, City Park and the Iowa River.
In addition to preserving the original trim work on the first level, the company also refurbished the first level’s wooden floor. The oak was sanded and refurbished to bring back the floor’s original charm.

During the demolition stage, Frantz said his crew discovered no real surprises as far as artifacts from the house’s frat days, although they did find the names of former frat members scrawled on the walls under the many layers of paint.

On the exterior of the building, Frantz liked the large white pillars along the front entrance and added balconies on the north end of the building of the first and second floors to match.

“The front elevation of the building was very attractive,” he says. “We wanted to make sure when we got done with it, it looked from the era when it was built.”

The developer also added an elevator and created two underground garages in the former basement space. The work crew removed each brick of the side wall where the garages were added one at a time so they could be used in restoration work on the front porch. An above-ground garage was also added.
The home will be featured on this year’s Remodelers Parade.