Couple turn old hospital into loft apartment

By OLIVER GOOD

Staff writer

Standing in the living room of Randy and Rachel Colletts remodeled downtown Marion apartment, it is hard to tell that the space in the C.B. Wheeler building ever housed a hospital, office building, or anything else.

The Colletts bought the space from Bruce and Belinda Skiles about two years ago and started remodeling in the spring.

Randy grew up north of Marion and wanted to return to the area for retirement.

The focal point of the living room is a gas fireplace that stretches from a hardwood floor to the ceiling on the east wall.

The interesting thing about this fireplace is that the veneer was crafted from stone taken out of the ground at Cottonwood Falls, Rachel said. It was taken to a place in Herington, where the stone was cut down to one-inch thickness.

Rachel hopes they can use walnut harvested from her hometown farm in Missouri in the mantel.

The original hardwood floor has been sanded and stained twice with one more sanding and staining left to go.

Damaged portions were repaired with wood taken from other areas of the house. The Colletts elected to keep some imperfections because of the woods history.

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Couple turn old hospital into loft apartment