Entering Brad and Amy Schaap’s Gold Coast Historic District home is like stepping back in time. The circa-1908 Edwardian/Neoclassical home boasts countless original features—mostly intact, some restored—like leaded glass windows, hardwood floors, intricate millwork, transom windows, hexagon mosaic tile flooring in transitional areas, ornamental plaster, built-ins, and curved wooden benches beneath bow windows. Quirky fixtures—such as a laundry chute, and sinks in several bedrooms—have proven to be surprisingly practical for the family. Other artifacts, including a working original high-tank antique toilet, a steep servant’s staircase, coal chute doors, and the basement’s walk-in safe, are simply fun to show off.
When the home was built, Theodore Roosevelt was president, the Wright brothers made their first public flights, Henry Ford launched the Model T, World War I was six years away, and a dozen eggs cost around 14 cents. There are challenges to living in a home built nearly 120 years ago, Brad said, like the half-century-old boiler they must conscientiously maintain, or the yard’s prolific walnut trees. Many projects still lie ahead, including cosmetic fixes for old water damage, restoring missing tiles, creating a first-floor closet, and shoring up retaining walls.
“There’s always something to fix,” Amy said. “There’s always a project. There will never be a ‘we are done’ with this house.”
However, their now-beautiful home has been worth the investment of money, time, and labor over nearly a dozen years, she said. The six-bedroom, 5,438-square-foot home has two and a half stories above ground and one floor below, and the property includes a carriage house with a small apartment. The house fit two past families with 10 children each, so there is ample space for the Schaaps’ four tween-to-teen children. Amy joked that on an early visit to the property, “We lost the kids.”
“They were in the third-floor porch, and we couldn’t hear them at all,” Brad said. Before they had cell phones, a loud wall bell summoned the Schaap kids from all floors.
It was serendipitous that the family ended up with the home. In 2012, they purchased a lot for a new home designed by Amy, an architect.
“We were about ready to get a construction loan and sell our current house,” she said. “But I have always loved historic houses.”
More for fun than intent, Amy perused local historic houses online. She was compelled by one particular listing when Brad, a structural engineer, was working out of the country.
“I toured it before he even got home. I brought some architects with me—one who specialized in historic architecture—and I kind of expected them to talk me out of it,” she said. “But I could not hide how giddy I felt in this space.”
Brad agreed to move forward. “We made an offer two weeks later,” Amy said.
Research revealed that the home was built by S.B. Doyle from original plans drawn by noted Omaha architect Thomas R. Kimball. The 1997 Gold Coast Historic District registration document for the National Register of Historic Places described the home as “…two and one half stories and is covered by a low pitched hip roof. Dormers flank a central balcony with an ornamental parapet. The cornice is extended and enclosed and has decorative dentils and elaborate brackets. Limestone is used for sills, lintels, a belt course and quoins. A central projecting and curvilinear entry porch is enriched with fluted Ionic columns. A classical porte cochere of similar detailing is found on the southern facade.”
The Schaaps found interior and exterior photos through the Durham Museum’s online archives. They also connected with people who had been in the home, which only a handful of families owned over time. Among their stories were a sibling locked in the safe, a wedding reception on the first floor, and children climbing into the laundry chute.
“This house has so much character,” Amy said. “We love the history of that.”
The home sat vacant at times, and some areas had once been partitioned and rented out. Previous owners Gordon Mundell and Elvira Garcia made substantial progress over decades of renovation, like tearing out green shag carpet, reintroducing the overgrown front entrance, and renovating bathrooms and the kitchen. However, the Schaaps had further updates and restoration ahead of them, like modernizing the kitchen with respect to the classic style of the home, installing upgraded lighting on the first floor, removing dated wallpaper and ceiling fans, and refinishing the hardwood floors. Their work evolved enough by late 2014 for the home to be included in the Joslyn Castle Holiday Historic Home Tour.
Mundell has been a valuable resource, sharing his knowledge of the home’s history and recommending contractors involved in past projects for the property.
“Every time we are hiring somebody, the first thing we ask them is, ‘What is your knowledge of historic homes?’” Amy said.
The family is making its own history in the home. Paintings by Amy’s father, artist Kim David Cooper, hang throughout. An upstairs sun porch has been turned into a Lego room, and another perfectly fits seats salvaged from Rosenblatt Stadium. The top-floor ballroom has been transformed into a teen hangout. Other changes to classic spaces accommodate the contemporary family, like bringing a television to the living room.
“I am grudgingly keeping the TV in here for family harmony,” Amy said. “It’s a great place for us to hang out.”
This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Omaha Home Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
