An Eclectic Northland Home with a Flair for the personal
A romantic ballad sung by Eydie Gormé emanates from speakers in the basement of Marco Pascolini and Beth Barden’s home. Barden sips on a liqueur while sitting on a green vinyl couch. Pascolini puts on a vinyl LP of jazzy bossa nova by Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes. Next, Buck Owens’ warm voice fills the room. The eclectic taste in music is matched by a highly personal sense of design in the colorful home of Barden and Pascolini.
Four years ago, the couple saw the two-bedroom, two-bath house during an estate sale. Twenty minutes later, they made a deal and placed a down payment. Located in the Evan Hills neighborhood, the house sits off North Oak Trafficway just beyond North Kansas City. Similar homes built in the late 1940s-early 1950s line the old neighborhood. The location enables a short commute to work.
Chef Beth Barden owns Succotash, a vibrant restaurant at 26th and Holmes near Hospital Hill. Her comfort food menu attracts diners from the neighborhood, art students, blue collar workers, and families. Catering jobs vary her schedule each week. Marco Pascolini, a production designer at Hallmark, plays guitar in local bands Mr. Marco’s V7, Snakebite Orphans, and Brannock Device. Because Barden and Pascolini’s schedule varies between the restaurant, catering jobs, music rehearsals, and gigs, having a low-key lifestyle in their cozy home is important. »»
“When I come home, it feels a million miles away from work,” says Barden. The house is five minutes from her restaurant. It’s close enough for emergencies and brief travel time but allows enough separation to settle into domesticity.
Barden and Pascolini quickly became attached to the house’s charming quirks. “The rooms are odd-shaped and compartmentalized. The kitchen is eight-by-eight feet. It’s like a tree house,” she says. “The kitchen won’t elevate the value of the house, but it’s functional. It’s perfect for us.”
They ripped out the carpet and paid a crew to refinish the wood floors with a dark green stain. Their creative DIY spirit guided the renovation. Pascolini and Barden remodeled the bathroom using tiles from Habitat Kansas City ReStore to cover the sink, walls, and back splash. A bright yellow kitchen sink installed recently gives the room a sunny boost. Over the years, they painted walls, fixed up the basement, and shored up the back deck where they grill and admire the wooded view.
The previous residents installed a bar in the basement. Mostly used now for parties, the bar sets the tone for a relaxed lounge replete with a well-stocked liquor cabinet, Pascolini’s stereo, and record collection. Votives, kitschy paint-by-numbers art, and pottery cluster at the base of the fireplace. A horseshoe clock keeps time on a shelf.
They find treasure and inspiration in handmade and unusual objects, attracted to the color and shape and alternate uses. Art deco and Sixties mod furniture blend with personal mementos from travel to Italy, curios from other eras, and local art. A mixed media piece by artist Nate Bosert incorporates photography of a warehouse fire, salvaged wood, and yellow back-lighting. Barden is enamored with a silkscreen by Charley Harper, an American Modernist artist best known for his highly stylized wildlife work.
Periodically, the homeowners alter the color scheme of the walls to suit their tastes. “The house has a life of its own and constantly changes,” says Barden. “We’ll see a yellow object and then buy more yellow objects. In time, we change the wall color to match. We’re not tied to a specific era or style.”
The couple also relish spending time with their pets. Marcel is a Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen with loads of personality. Sweet Baby Carlyle is a “boogered up” mix. “We love him,” says Barden. “We found him dumped as a sick pup and nursed him back to health.”
Not to be left out, Mr. Schminkman, a cat, is a “fat tub of lard, prolific hunter, and man about town.” “He visits people and dogs in the neighborhood,” says Barden. His counterpart is Arturo the Flipper Girl, a cat rescued as a kitten that was found frozen to a dock in winter. Clearly, the pets are a central part of the family and add to the home’s playful atmosphere.
Barden and Pascolini throw a fabulous holiday party each year for friends that includes loads of food, drink, music and conversation. “It’s the one party you throw where you see everybody at once,” says Pascolini.
“It’s a chance to be ridiculous. To use glitter, wear fancy shoes and red toenail polish. It’s an excuse to use butter and bake ridiculous amounts,” enthuses Barden. “I love the holidays.”
Barden and Pascolini maintain a distinct perspective on their lifestyle and home design. “It’s not a big box store lifestyle. You’re not going to be the same person a year from now, if you’re lucky,” she says. “You evolve and so does your aesthetic. We have specific tastes, but also like stuff that is rough around the edges.
“We’re both content living within our means,” she says. “We tweak things for our lifestyle. We’re not preparing the house for the next buyer. We genuinely value things with history and value relationships with people that had they things you acquire.”
After our visit, Barden departs to the restaurant in preparation for a spur-of-the-moment catering job. Pascolini leaves for band practice. Their life is filled with food, music, art, objects with stories and people and pets that matter. Home is not merely a piece of property that accrues value over time. For them, home is a working canvas, a sanctuary, an extension of a full life designed to serve their purposes.
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