Concealed within an attractive boundary of oak and hickory trees, a two-story, 5,546-square-foot home for sale southeast of Indianola combines a modern-style property with a secluded setting frequently coveted by rural home hunters.

Listed by local specialist Jake Sickels, the $1.499 million home sits on a five-acre footprint in the Marywood Lakes neighborhood, subtly hidden from online maps. Constructed in 2004 by Indianola’s Downing Construction, Sickels explained that it would be difficult to replicate the home and landscape for the current asking price. “You start doing the math backward on this thing, almost 8,900 square feet of finished living area, plus a five-acre, double lot. I don't even know what that house would cost to build,” he said.

During the last five years, the five-bedroom, six-bathroom home has undergone a series of mindful upgrades, including a new roof, refinished flooring, and improvements to the four-car, heated-floor garage.

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Describing Indianola as a “prosperous community” that is no stranger to seven-figure home sales, Sickels suspected a home of this scale would quickly attract buyers from the Des Moines metro, who wouldn’t mind a daily drive from the south. “Some people kind of like that commute, to lock in for the day and get focused if they're going to work, or decompress before they get home,” he added.

Accessible from two roads heading to the east and west, the acreage includes its own backyard pond and preserved woodland on all sides.

Highlights of this $1.5 million home in Indianola include a backyard pond, secret rooms, and a replica of a Canadian fishing cabin. Here is an aerial view of the property.

Annual homeowner association fees of $1,360 cover road maintenance and private access to the residents' 57-acre lake, “fully stocked with bass, crappie, bluegill, and more,” Sickels said. Other outdoor opportunities, including the Bank Swallow Bend Wildlife Area, are a short drive to the north.

Inside, the main floor’s two-story tall “great room” opens to a dining area, a family room, a “wine tasting” set-up, a home office and a comfortable-sized kitchen with two islands and cherry wood cabinetry.

Highlights of this $1.5 million home in Indianola include a backyard pond, secret rooms, and a replica of a Canadian fishing cabin. Here are the living room and dining room.

The current owners use the enclosed porch, a few steps from the kitchen, year-round as a sheltered outdoor barbecue and grilling layout.

Highlights of this $1.5 million home in Indianola include a backyard pond, secret rooms, and a replica of a Canadian fishing cabin. Here is the grill room.

Also on the main level, a large bedroom connects to a raised lounge, and a bathroom featuring a waterfall shower and a jet tub.

Highlights of this $1.5 million home in Indianola include a backyard pond, secret rooms, and a replica of a Canadian fishing cabin. Here is the primary bedroom.

Designed with more than a dozen rooms throughout the property, a series of secret areas are hidden from the casual visitor. The primary bedroom features a bookcase that can be pushed open to reveal a staircase and a possible reading nook, office, or even a small speakeasy space, and a few more steps to a roof lookout with expansive views of the surrounding land.

Highlights of this $1.5 million home in Indianola include a backyard pond, secret rooms, and a replica of a Canadian fishing cabin. Here is the balcony.

Facing the ground floor main entrance, a dual staircase leads up to the second level and three extra bedrooms, another potential home office, and a small reading corner with access to an outdoor balcony.

Highlights of this $1.5 million home in Indianola include a backyard pond, secret rooms, and a replica of a Canadian fishing cabin. Here is the finished basement.

Downstairs, the basement covers an additional 3,350 square feet of finished space, centered around a family room with a wet bar, a games area, a media theater with tiered seating, and an additional bedroom.

Highlights of this $1.5 million home in Indianola include a backyard pond, secret rooms, and a replica of a Canadian fishing cabin. Here is the fishing room.

The lower level also includes a room designed for fans of the outdoors, created to resemble a Canadian fishing cabin, and equipped with a “ventilation system where you can smoke a cigar and it'll pull all the smoke up through the roof and out to the exterior of the home,” Sickels explained.

“Some people have a camper or a boat, and they have to leave their house to relax, or let their hair down, and you can just kind of do that here and never leave,” he said.

Jake Sickels at Peoples Company listed the home for $1.499 million. Contact Sickels at 515-681-2103 for more information and a private showing.

More on this house

Highlights of this $1.5 million home in Indianola include a backyard pond, secret rooms, and a replica of a Canadian fishing cabin. Here is an aerial photo of the front of the home.

Where: 13426 169th Lane, Indianola

Asking price: $1,499,000

Year built: 2004

Square footage: 5,546 square feet

Lot size: 5.42 acres

Richard Lane is a freelance writer for the Des Moines Register. If you have a home we should feature, reach out to Susan Stapleton at [email protected].