It was late at night, she was covered in dust and the room she was working in was in a shambles when Rebekah Pasqualetto named her Instagram page with a word that cannot be printed in a family newspaper.
Fed up, she also described “this old (blank) house” in Bemis Park this way: 1889 home looking young and fresh because it sucks the life out of those who live here.
Pasqualetto has a very understandable explanation.
“We were in the middle of kitchen construction,” she said.
It was a project that stretched seven endless months. She and husband Derek did the work themselves after taking the room down to the studs. Meanwhile, the driveway they were adding was a sea of mud.
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Fast forward a few years, and Pasqualetto is desolate about leaving the Edgar Zabriskie house, one of the first built in the Bemis Park neighborhood. She and Derek are going their separate ways, and the house at 3524 Hawthorne Ave. is for sale for $499,000. May Yap of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate is the realtor.
It’s time to turn the care of the eye-catching Queen Anne residence over to someone else. They are selling the house as is because there is still work to be tackled, such as renovating the third floor.
“We’ve done a lot of projects,” Pasqualetto said. “We intended to live there forever.”
The house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and an Omaha landmark, wasn’t in bad shape when they moved in nearly four years ago. The former owners had been good stewards, replacing the roof and painting the outside.
The Pasqualettos, who also renovated the Vintage Ballroom downtown over an eight-year period, redid the kitchen, put in the new driveway, updated the HVAC and replaced the old knob and tube electricity.
“As a modern-day person, I require modern-day accommodations,” Pasqualetto said.
She also added her own twist to four of the rooms, painting the walls so meticulously that they can be mistaken for wallpaper. Through trial and error, she said, each room took about three days to complete.
The patterns are like works of art, she said, all generated through her imagination.
“I love creating different textures and visuals on the wall. I like the wall to be a painting,” she said. “I think that’s the hardest part about moving. I’m so emotionally attached to them.”
They were the backdrop for frequent dinner parties for friends and huge family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Christmas,
The couple loved to entertain, and the house was a gathering place for everyone in their lives.
“When we had our final hurrah for the home, it felt like a funeral. All our friends and family also saying goodbye,” she said.
Now when asked what else she loves most about the house, Pasqualetto said “everything.”
She’ll also miss the friendly neighbors and the beautiful picture created by the large trees on the block when it snowed.
“An old house always needs work,” she said. “It’s worth it. They are beautiful. The house just tells a story.”
Photos: A walk through the Bemis Park neighborhood
The Bemis Land Company laid out this subdivision in 1889, two years after it became a part of Omaha. Its streets were the first in Omaha to be laid out according to topography rather than the grid pattern used in the rest of the city. It has a mix of styles. George Bemis donated the park in the neighborhood. Judy Alderman once told The World-Herald, "It's like a small town. I think a lot of why people like it here is they do know everybody. They know they can trust their neighbors, and they know they can count on their neighbors.''
marjie.ducey@owh.com, 402-444-1034, twitter.com/mduceyowh
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