About Our Stone Cottage Vacation Rental Near Dubuque, IA
If you love Frank Lloyd Wright, you will love this stone cottage vacation rental near Dubuque, IA. Our vacation home, which took over 2.5 years to build, is perched on top of the landscape in secluded cedar woods surrounded by bluffs. The original Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Seth Petersen cottage is the inspiration behind the look of our stone cottage.
Welcome Guide
Introduction
This guide is to assist with the operation of many of the appliances, furniture, locks, etc. Please note, the cottage is located deep in the woods with wildlife. You may see deer, turkeys, squirrels, please do not feed the wildlife. It will create dependency and unwanted behavior (later). Also, do not climb on the bluffs or large boulders as these are very unstable, stay on the trail. Finally, No Smoking within the cottage. If you do smoke, please do not throw butts, or empty cigarette boxes in the woods, as someone will need to pick them up.
The Fireplace
The Stressless chairs and couch
The Big Chill oven
The Kohler toilet
The Honeywell thermostats
The TV
The Shadow boxes.
The Kitchen faucet
The Door locks.
Favorite place’s (Joe & Kelly enjoy)
Pizza Places
Grocery Stores
Outdoor Fire Stove
Fireplace
The fireplace has a remote control that activates the propane unit. There are several modes, with the number of burners that will activate. There is a front and rear burner, fan settings, and temperature settings. Look for the power button to activate the previous mode.
Stressless Chairs and Couch
The chairs and couch have powered operations. Look or feel for several buttons under the right arm rest. These control the recliner operation and leg rest unit. The couch has head rests that will activate upon pressing the control button in between the cushions.
The Big Chill Stove
To operate the oven of the Big Chill you must first turn ‘On’ the unit. Once the switch (on left side) is in ‘On’ position the oven is ready to have temperature set. You will notice a lite bulb; this is the oven light. You will also see a fan image. This is for the convection fan. When the orange light is illuminated the desired temperature is reached.
The Kohler Toilet
The toilet is an intelligent toilet, where it will sense your presence and open the seat cover. There is also a remote panel to control other functions. The seat will heat, the bidet is operational, some features are disabled. For example, the auto flush. You must depress the wall panel flush buttons. The button to the right is less, the button to the left is maximum flush.
The Honeywell Thermostats
There are two thermostats. One for the geothermal unit (the larger lower). The second thermostat is for the radiant heat flooring system. I recommend the upper thermostat to be set one or two degrees lower than the lower thermostat. The reason is less calling on the radiant heat and more on the air handler. The air handler will circulate the air and keep the window from frosting.
The TV
The TV does support HDMI interface ports for Chromecast or Roku, etc. If the guest does not have any of these devices, NetFlix’s is provided to watch.
The Shadow boxes
These boxes manage the lightening in the cottage. You will need to depress the LED light bar to activate and adjust desired lightening mode. A few of the shadow boxes have motion sensors. Kitchen and laundry room have occupancy sensor and will time out after 10 minutes. Artwork – is Charlie Harper from Motawi Tiles.
The Kitchen faucet has a motion sensor.
When the water handle is moved to desired temperature a small white LED light will light. If you pass your hand underneath the faucet the water valve will open. Repeat the hand motion to shut off the water valve.
The Door locks
The doors have motion sensing panel detection. When you wave your hand in front of the door lock panel the panel will illuminate. Enter your door code and press the Check Mark. This will activate the unlocking process. To lock the door simply wave your hand over the panel, and it will lock the door.
Favorite Places
Kalmes Restaurant/General Store is less than a mile away. A country store and restaurant. They have won many awards across Iowa. Known for their noodles, and Steaks. If you love the original country feeling this is the place. Also, across the road is Beer in Barn. Iowa’s oldest stone barn. Very interesting and beer on second floor, note limited winter hours, look for the sign “Beer In The Barn OPEN”.
Marco’s Restaurant is in Dubuque on Central Avenue. Everything is handmade and you can taste it. You will not find Irish whiskey here, rather excellent Spaghetti, Chicken, and known for their Hot Spaghetti. Frank Sinatra in the air, this is our family favorite.
Baraboo’s Neighborhood tavern. On Main Street Dubuque. Image cheese curds with a raspberry jalapeno dip, and the best nachos in Dubuque. A great place for a quick lunch or too many beers. Kelly loves the nachos, and I love the raspberry jalapeno dip, I got a monkey on my back!
Park Farm Winery is another one of our favorite places. I’ll admit I’m a pizza junkie and these guys have it figured out. They will have music on the weekends during the summer but call ahead to confirm which day.
Galena, if you are up for a drive, about 35 minutes (up to Dubuque cross over the river and down to Galena) visit Galena. The shops and the restaurants are a great place to hike around. Kelly loves Poopsie’s unique items, I like Cannova’s for a pizza (and a quick one).
Charlotte’s Coffee House has the perfect cup of coffee, wonderful cinnamon rolls, and breakfasts. I haven’t tried them all, mostly because the cinnamon roll max’s me out. Charlotte’s is in Dubuque on White Street.
The Offshore Resort in Bellevue is a great place to watch the Mississippi river and have raspberry dip with cheese curds. We love watching the bird wildlife at sunset come in and land. On the weekends they do have music.
River Brewery Bellevue. We just started hanging out here. Excellent brews (IPA guy here), good munchies, but excellent river and people watching. Across the street is Grandpa’s Parlor for Ice Cream and I just heard there is a new Ice cream place on State Street with unusual twist ice cream. A nice hike around town.
Mines of Spain a great place to hike and see the Mississippi river. The story of the Mines of Spain is quite interesting and how Julian Dubuque convince the King of Spain to fund this operation. But he also tricked the Indians to mining, and later chased him off a bluff (Julian Dubuque Monument).
Eagle Point Park what an amazing view, and you may see an Eagle as well. When the park was under development, they built the structures much like Frank Lloyd Wright. The Pavilions are a must see. If you want a burger and a beer, the Yard Arm is nearby for sitting outside and looking at the boats and bikini’s.
Farmers Market (seasonal) in Dubuque is wonderful, open only on Saturdays from 8:00am to noon. Located between 10th & 13th street, and Iowa Ave. is a must for fresh veggies, music, wine, or people watching.
Favorite Pizza places
Driftless Pizza, Millwork District of Dubuque.
Marco’s Restaurant (Dubuque).
Park Farms Winery (Epworth).
Happy Joe’s Pizza (Dubuque).
Cannova’s in Galena.
Second Street Station (Bellevue).
Note, due to Covid 19, many of these restaurants have limited hours of operation. Call ahead. No gourmet pizza places that I know of, although Cannova’s and Driftless it pretty darn close, good tomato sauce.
Grocery Stores
Kalmes General Store (less than a mile) very limited selection, just the basics.
Bender’s is in Bellevue, 10 miles. Small grocery store, basics and a little more.
HyVee located on Locust Street, Dubuque, 10 miles. Large grocery store that has it all.
Outdoor Fire Solo Stove
You will find wood, poker and log grasping tools. If you need fire starters, or a lighter can be found next to the Big Chill Stove in the lower cabinet. Take caution with Fat Wood (fire starter kindling) when it burns it drips hot sap and will burn you. Believe me I know..many times I know.
Bellevue State Park
The State Park is just across the bridge south of town and has an amazing view of the river. A quick drive up, short hike to the bluff and a wonderful view. A wonderful view to add to the adventure.
Returning Guests
If you would like to come visit the cottage again, please let us know and we will have a return guest discount. Just visit the website and send a note to admin@odonnellscottage.com to ask for a returning guest discount code. Please let the old administrator know who you are, and wa-la all is wonderful.
To Build a Cottage
“Many people have asked.”How did you create such a building? What did it take, people want to know your story”. Ive started writing the journey to build this cottage. Enclosed you will see a few pictures of progress. Hopefully by June 2025 the book will be finished.