The house with the tower is done

After five-and-a-half years and lots of work, Ron and Shawn Leis' "five month" remodel project is done.

Ron and Shawn Leis didn't expect to take five and a half years to finish their house, the one with a tower at 215 South Spruce Street.

But it's finished, and they have invited the public to come see what they accomplished. They will hold an open house on Sunday, December 2, and another on Saturday, December 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to view the completed project.

"We aren't going to have refreshments or anything, but people want to see the house," explained Ron.

Shawn and Ron built the 2,500 square foot home pretty much by themselves.

They originally thought it would take five months, not five and one-half years.

They were just going to raise the roof and put some bedrooms on a new second floor to accommodate their "blended" family of eight.

"We were just going to put four bedrooms up there so we could house the six children," said Ron.

But then a building inspector said, "No, the stringers aren't good enough to hold a floor, you have to replace these stringers."

So they set about replacing the stringers. The roof was off. Then an October storm dropped 14 inches of snow on the open structure.

By spring, they had lost ceilings, walls, the carpets and the floors. They tore into the building and found that the beams did not go to the foundation, and termites had gotten to the plates.

They had to do foundation work, rebeam and repost the whole building.

"By the end of the second year, we were standing in dirt," said Leis. "It was so pathetic, the police would stop by in the rain storms and shine their lights, so we could see where to put the tarps."

But they couldn't stop. "We had all of our money sunk into it. We would buy some materials, run out of money; buy some materials, run out of money," said Ron.

One by one, they began replacing walls.

"We used as much of the old material as we could, even saved and rehung the stainless steel siding that was on the house, said Leis.

They laid new beams and hardwood floors. They bought a spiral staircase in Texas to access the upper floors and the roof.

Ron's son, Aaron, a "high end" dry wall contractor in Bend, according to Ron, did the drywall with an "exquisite" level of detail. About a year ago Leis hired Brian Huntamer to do some of the wood work so he could meet a balloon payment due this last Friday.

Inspectors were "very aware" of the project and knew Leis was building it himself. They were very rigid in forcing compliance with the regulations, said Leis.

Leis has a pottery shop on Spruce and Hood.

"I haven't been able to do any pottery. After five and half years, the house became my art. Then Shawn caught the spirit, and started undesigning part of my designs." But together they have created an art shared between them, said Leis.

Shawn is a software engineer working in Bend.

The house project "really shaped our lives. Rather than our shaping it, it shaped us," said Leis.

A bus was that was going to be a motor home for the kids to go camping has not been used.

Two of the six children have gone on to college.

But children at home have already been to the top of the "French mansard" design. A tower, at the top of that spiral staircase that runs through the center of the house, provides access to the 20X40 deck on the flat roof, soon to have a fence.

And the Leis' will have an open house.

"We have people as far back as West Virginia who come by every year to see if the pottery is open, and if the house is done," said Leis.

It is. Finally.