ROBERT GOLKA, AN ENGINEER BY TRADE, and his wife, Patricia, built their house in 1963. They had a 1-year-old, Ronald, and a newborn, John.
In Grand Island, Neb., they built a classic rancher: three bedrooms, the kitchen, dining room and living room on the main floor; two bedrooms in the basement — 1,350 square feet total. During the next three-plus decades in this tidy vessel, the Golkas raised 10 children. For a time under that roof there were Mom, Dad, six boys, four girls, and two bathrooms, one of which had a shower.
“Mornings were interesting,” John said.