Peter Fleischhacker and Angie Enos Photo by Kristal Leebrick
Angie Enos and Peter Fleischhacker have become accustomed to the occasional visitor stopping by their home at 779 W. Wheelock Parkway to reminisce about the former storefront’s past lives. The 100-year-old building has served as a couple of different grocery stores, a bookstore, the Como Bike Shop (owned by Enos and Fleischhacker), and for some of the random door-knockers — as well as Enos, Fleischhacker and their son, Jack — the second-floor apartment has been home.
The couple bought the building 30 years ago and operated the bike shop there for many years, but now the building is what Enos calls “a work in progress.” Enos, a cabinet maker and woodworker, and Fleischhacker, who has done a good amount of remodeling, have been rehabbing the main floor of the building and unearthing pieces from the corner store’s past: a metal tobacco advertising sign tucked inside a wall, old newspapers jammed into the walls for insulation, a metal wall plate from its days as Wheelock Grocery.
The Celebration of the Century. Photo by Claire Deters
The couple came close to selling it this summer, but just couldn’t, Enos said. They decided they may be here to stay and celebrated July 28 with a “Celebration of the Century” to mark the building’s 100th year at the corner of Wheelock and Folsom Street. The party included nearly 100 neighbors, friends and family members, a chocolate-raspberry cake decorated with the number 100 and — they are pretty certain — they served at least 100 bottles of beer (made by Fleischhacker, a homebrewer).
Enos said her love for this building comes from how well-built it is, “how much real workmanship went into it.”
