The sitting room is part of the original house which is evident in the lovely stonework fireplace. The room also features various items on display of Van’s. Van collects cookbooks and has over 1000 of them and she has read every single one. She started collecting when she was 19 and started with used cookbooks her family and friends gave her. She then started buying one from every state she has visited and has now started working on collecting one from every country she has been to. In a corner she has various awards and trinkets from her time with FEMA and Homeland Security. Van worked for FEMA but left to work for Homeland Security, where she worked for 7 years up to her retirement. Off to the side is the sunroom which not only lets in the sun but the first glimpse of the beautiful view of the Missouri River. Van and Roger updated the room by giving it access to a guest room. On the other side of the sitting room is the formal dining room, which is also a part of the original house. The dining set Van and Roger currently have is from Van’s college days. She bought it 40 years ago and only paid $60. It has survived moves and various houses. A lot of the artwork throughout the house was painted by Van’s children, which gives it a more personal feel. Though the house is 100 years old there are numerous places for storage. In the dining room there are cupboards built underneath the window to hold dishes Van collects and table cloths. Also on display in the dining room is a block of tea that Roger and Van bought. In colonial times this block of tea would have been used as a form of money. A butler pantry leads you into the kitchen. The butler pantry offers even more storage, all wood and original. There are serving trays the butlers would use to make it easier to reach even the dishes in the back. Van and Roger gutted the kitchen and modernized it, as the way it was originally set up didn’t give it an ease of use. Even though it was updated the floor remains original. They used flooring from under the sink to blend in to keep it all the same. The floors that are still original vary between red and white oak. Hanging over the breakfast nook in the kitchen is a chandelier that is 300 years old that Van found at a sale and only paid $50 for. She has the original sales receipt that proves its age. The kitchen opens into the great room, which at one time would have been the back yard but was added on during the Willcockson’s time. The entire south side of the room is windows which has a gorgeous view of the river but also offers a breeze and a ton of natural light. There is still some of the original façade in the room as one wall is still the original brick. There is even still a window that is used as a shelf. Van and Roger have a picture of the way the house originally looked in 1916. Above the bar hangs a picture from the 1916 flood where you can see the house with the rising waters. vLIVING continued on page 18