“Inside the Door . . .” from the March 8, 1966 Door County Advocate
EARLY AMERICAN decor is featured in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Elroy Ruebel at 179 N. 9th av. in Sturgeon Bay. This distinctive and attractive home was planned and decorated as a family project. Mrs. Ruebel is seated near the fireplace in the family room. Other photos include the kitchen, living room and dining room, each room more inviting than the one before. —Harmann
Inside the Door . . .
One of a series of Door County homes
The home fires burn brightly at the Roy Ruebel home at 179 N. 9th av. in Sturgeon Bay and most of their hobbies and extra interests are centered around their home.
Mrs. Ruebel teaches commercial subjects at Sevastopol high school and also had classes in graphic arts there for a number of years. The posters turned out by her students were out standing and eye-catching, as were the ceramics done by her adult night classes.
She has many examples of her own fine work in the various rooms of the attractively decorated and carefully planned Ruebel home. She and her husband drew, discarded and re-drew plans until they had what they thought was exactly what they wanted in a home. They kept files of ideas and piles of clippings from magazines that had some feature they liked.
A few years ago they built their present home which has been admired by everyone who has seen it and two new homes based on it have been built by other county residents.
As carefully as they planned and designed, they found that the family room at the rear of the garage was not quite large enough and so they increased the size of this much-used room quite simply by merely removing the wall nearest the garden patio and adding on more space.
The patios, two of them, are at the rear of the home and were planned and added after the interior had been completed. The care of lawns and flower beds has fallen mainly to Mrs. Ruebel in summer vacation since their son departed for college.
The family room is paneled in pine and has a wealth of built-ins for storage of almost every item needed. The tape recorder and tapes slide out on a shelf arrangement. Hi Fi is built in, the slide projector and slides are close at hand and yet out of sight, and a large viewing screen is behind the wood valance just over the collection of guns on the wall. The screen can be pulled down when needed and when not used is out of sight. Even the TV set is built into the cupboard.
Shelving in the family room contains part of the collection of Royal Doulton Toby mugs and some of the Dresden figurines which the Ruebels have collected in their travels.
Comfortable chairs abound and in one corner is the electric organ which Mrs. Ruebel delights to play when she can spare a few minutes from her other activities.
The corner fireplace is angled and built of stone. Its raised hearth is convenient and in front is a hooked rug which was made by Roy himself.
One of his hobbies is hooking rugs, wall hangings and chair pads for his home and lest you think this is a feminine occupation, remember that he was on the football and basketball teams in both high school and college and has an enviable war record, attested to by the medals and ribbons which his wife has saved and displayed (behind the cover of a mantel decoration in the living room).
Most of the finishing and staining of the paneling and cupboard and storage space in the home was done by Roy’s father who enjoyed his part in the construction of this home.
While the Ruebels were in Panama when Roy was in Service they acquired a brass stirrup which was left behind by the Conquistadors when they were in Panama hundreds of years ago.
Just off the family room is a small study where Roy has a file cabinet, built-in desk and other convenient storage space for hobby materials.
Since this is a tri-level home, as we come up the few stairs from the family room we will by-pass the main floor and go up a few more stairs to the bedroom.
The halls have linen and cedar closets for storage and there are three bedrooms. Son Dennis’ room has an early American wallpaper and the bedside table has a ceramic top done by himself, as he too got in the family decorating act.
Brown corduroy spread and brown carpet accent the masculine air of the room and some of his books and his desk are still here, awaiting his return home from Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa on vacations. He is majoring in pharmacy and is just completing his sophomore year.
One of the unique and original hooked pieces done by Roy is a wall hanging made for Dennis, showing the bulldog which is the school mascot, his frat emblem, all done in the school colors of Drake.
The master bedroom has most attractive lamps at the side of the bed, large figurines of Pinkie and Blue Boy done by Mrs. Ruebel, were wired by her husband for lamps and white shades added. Furniture is maple and the beige spread is embroidered in gold thread. Closets have louvred doors throughout the bedrooms and antique chairs with needlepoint covering are seen in each of the rooms.
The guest room has a scenic paper, white spread and a lovely, unusual lamp with painted roses, a remembrance of a grandmother.
Carpeting throughout the other rooms upstairs as well as the hall and stairs is a green tweedy mixture.
As the visitor goes from one room to the next in this exceptionally well planned home, it is evident that there is “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Every available inch of storage space was utilized and no space was wasted.
Going back down to the main floor, guests are impressed by the many touches added by the lady of the house.
The kitchen and dining room are “papered” above the dado with a colonial print fabric, the same as used in draperies at the windows and above the soffit in the kitchen cupboards. All appliances are built in and include dishwasher, oven, countertop burners and others.
Counter tops are green formica and cupboards are of pine with black wrought iron HL hinges. A table was made to fit the painted tiles Mrs. Ruebel made and she also made the large lazy-daisy ceramic server. More Toby jugs are found on the shelves over the tops of the kitchen windows.
Cupboards divide the dining room and kitchen areas and one notices the continuation of the ballustrades found throughout the house. These were made by Bill Herbst, a co-worker of Roy at the Navy office and also his next door neighbor.
The gray ceramic floor of the kitchen is continued into the dining room and is most easy to maintain as well as attractive. On the dining side the cupboard divider holds a collection of silver serving pieces and fine china table service.
A round table is flanked by windsor-chairs in maple and the sideboard has an oval mirror and a railed shelf behind it. Large doors lead to the patio at the rear.
Wide double doors lead to the living room at the front of the house and green plants abound. Walls are pine paneled and print draperies set off the green tweedy carpet, the same pattern and color as in the halls and bed rooms upstairs.
One three-shelved wall piece has three drawers under the shelving and was made in Panama in the leper colony there. Workmanship is fine and it now holds a collection of Hummel figures picked up in their travels.
The incense burner came from Mexico and is near the red brick fireplace with its raised hearth. The black wooden carved eagle over the mantle was made by Bill Herbst and the front lifts up to reveal Roy’s medals. This was planned by his wife.
Maple furniture and authentic side pieces and accessories abound. Four excellent silk screen prints of ducks are framed and hand on the wall over the curved brown sectional alongside a large Audubon print. The afghan on the back of the sofa was made by both of them and the crewel pillows done by her mother.
The divider between the front hall and the living room features large ballustrades also made by Herbst and these extend from the dividing storage space to the ceiling. An Eagle tops the mirror in the wall and plenty of space has been provided here for outdoor wraps, all behind louvred doors.
Each room of this home reveals the talents and home-loving propensities of its owners and even this brief visit Inside the Door of the Ruebel home says that here is a house that is really a home.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
Articles by Frances Badtke
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/frances-badtke