  The Story of The Arbor
The building in Lost Nation, Iowa, located at 503 Main Street, was purchased in March of 2005. At this time, we didn't know what we were going to use it for, but bought it simply with the intention to save and restore an historical building on Main Street. The following pictures were given to us, depiciting the building as it looked when it was first built.
 
Early Rennovation
Sometime in the 50s or early 60s the building was given a "facelift". The old brick front
was covered with a black glass facade, a very high tech implementation for the period. Above the black glass, a stucco
treatment was applied, covering the brick architectural dental work.
The overly large front display window was replaced with a smaller, easier to maintain window, and the
transoms were covered over.
The transformation gave the building a sleek, "deco" look, which was all the rage at the time.
Today
Demolition and gutting began immediately, in preparation for a full remodelling of the interior. While tearing out old plaster and lathe, framework for the original window rough openings for the front display and transoms was discovered. It was at this time we made the decision to attempt the restoration of the front facade, back to what it was in the late 1800s.
Windows were custom ordered to fit the old framework, and the black glass facade was removed. To our delight, the vast majority of original brick was in good condition, and was tuckpointed and sealed. Bricks that were damaged beyond repair were replaced with reproduction tumbled brick to match the exisiting brick. The stuccoed brickwork above the black glass was in poor condition and deteriorated, so it was removed and rebuilt with the same reproduction bricks. Great pains were taken to preserve the original front facade, and rebuild as closely to the original as possilbe.
The interior was completely rebuilt, with all new lighting, wiring, plumbing, heating and drywall.
 
Shopping
The Arbor, in Lost Nation, Iowa offers a wide variety of hand-made items, crafted by local artisans. The crafters featured are gifted with skills that could be catagorized as "lost arts", as fewer people are carrying on the traditions of yesteryear. We encourage those who are gifted with these talents, and seek to provide our customers with a selection of high quality and unique items, with a flavor from the past.
You can browse through our shop HERE.
Credits for the restoration and remodelling:
Don Radech and Jeff Arnold - General contractors, carpentry, and plasterwork
The Arnold Bros. Plastering - exterior stucco, interior plasterwork
Jackson Tuckpointing - restoration of historical brick facade
Lowden Plumbing and Heating - plumbing, heating and air conditioning
Radech Electric - wiring
Lucas Radech - "Jack of all trades"
Last but certainly not least, we must give credit to the many, many friends who helped wherever needed!
Store Hours:
| Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| noon - 7pm | noon - 7pm | noon - 7pm | 10am - 7pm | 10am- 5pm |
|
  |
|
