A couple of guests kept asking homeowner/Mission Ole Chair Greg Nieberding if his home was Texas contemporary. The ever diplomatic and patient Greg just kept smiling and saying, “It’s midcentury contemporary.”
Actually, it was 2015 miracle. Greg had just laid his hands on the 58-year-old home only a block away from a former First Family back in May. The Jack Wood-designed home had had only one owner, but it needed a bit of updating. Still Greg was not going to sacrifice the beauty and charm of the 3,000+ square-foot structure’s origins.
Respecting the beauty of the wood and the screen panels, the terrazzo floors, the low-beamed ceiling and white leather sectional in the den and floor-to-ceiling windows, he created a home that Don Draper would have killed for.
The kitchen boasted 21st century appliance alongside touches of the “Father Knows Best” era like the vintage-colored Geneva cabinets and Formica counter tops with the 1960’s high-tech NuTone In-Built food center that could handle appliances for mixing, blending, juicing and sharpening knives.
Thanks to smartly positioned windows and a new roof, Greg fessed up that his electricity bill had only checked in around the $200 mark. But on the downside, the 78 sprinkler heads satisfying the near-acre property with towering trees backing up to Tom Hick’s estate had hit the $500 zone.
For its debut, Greg opened it up for the Mission Ole patron party on Thursday, October 1. As crickets were heard “Cricketing” in the distance, guests like Gail Fischer, Cindy Turner, Dawn Spalding and Mission Ole Honorary Chair Katherine Wynne arrived to be greeted by a life-size Lady of the Dead. The dress was glorious. Her face could have used a skillful plastic surgeon.
In one room, Paige McDaniel pointed out a charming youth’s outfit in a glass frame. It had been designed in the 1960’s by the home’s previous owner, Ed Cupaioli. Greg had found it online and preserved it complete with the label showing.
Trinity River Mission CEO Dolores Sosa Green said ticket sales for the Thursday, October 29th Mission Ole’s Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) at Trinity Groves were moving swiftly. While it’s just hours away from Halloween, Dia de los Muertos is traditionally celebrated in Mexico on November 1. But why not get a head start and get all costumed up for the benefit of Trinity River Mission.