Like many small rural communities, residents of Callaway come and go. People pass away, move away – often leaving behind a property that falls into disrepair. Two Callaway men have partnered to breathe new life into one such property, and are hopeful others will follow their lead.

Rod Brestel and Henry Moore joined forces about a year ago and purchased a house on Pacific Street in Callaway for the purpose of revitalizing the property. The two-bedroom one-bath home is now basically a brand new house. New interior paint, flooring, all new kitchen, all new bathroom, new roof, new windows, new HVAC system, and more have been completed.

“We got ahold of the previous seller a year ago and asked him if he was willing to sell it, and he was, so we bought it. That’s when this project began,” said Brestel as he proudly pointed out all of the improvements to the house. “It ended up being a pretty good deal for us.”

The rehab project is utilizing funds through a Housing Rebate/Redevelopment Program initiated by Callaway Economic Development. Through the program, the Callaway Village Board sets aside $100,000 per year from LB840 funds to provide grants for home rehab projects in the community.

“We have to show receipts that we spent $40,000 on the project, and we can get reimbursed $20,000 of that,” Brestel explained. “To remodel this cost us more than $40,000, but that is free money - so why wouldn’t you do it?” One of the stipulations for those funds is that the home must be uninhabitable. “The grant is for $20,000 - $30,000, and it depends on whether it is a single- family home or a duplex, on the amount,” Moore explained.

A committee was formed to come up with ideas of how to use those funds to incentivize people to rehab or tear down abandoned and unlivable homes, and Moore became part of that committee. “The grant is written so that you can’t use the money just to revitalize your own home. The house you are doing has to have been vacant for a period of several months, and the committee checks to determine if it is uninhabitable,” said Moore. “The house on Pacific had froze up pipes, the HVAC unit was not working, so there’s no way someone could have just moved into that house.

We had to make it livable.”

The house was one of many in Callaway that had suffered a great deal of damage in a hailstorm that ravaged the community in 2023, and nothing had been done with the property since.

There is a second story on the house, but Moore explained that there was really no way to cost-effectively make that a third bedroom.

The pair is already in a purchase agreement on the house, which was initiated before the home even hit the market.

Moore explained that the committee asked the Village Board to set aside $100,000 per year from LB840 funds to provide grants for home rehab projects in the community.

“This was a good project for both of us. We learned a lot,” said Brestel. While he said he would be open to another similar project, that will not happen until after he has retired. “I would work until 5:00, then come down here and work until 8:00, go home and eat supper, and go to bed. And Henry did the same thing - he would come in the morning and work until he had to go to the bar then work all evening. I never was home.”

“Yeah, it did take longer than we anticipated,” Moore added. “I remember saying we were gonna finish this in three months. It just doesn’t work that way.

If this was our only job I think we could have knocked it out in three months.”

The two did the vast majority of the work themselves. About the only things they didn’t do were the HVAC, the bathroom, and the roof. Brestel took a building construction course at Mid Plains Community College in North Platte after high school and worked in that industry for a few years, until the economy in the 80s forced him to do something different.

Moore worked in the construction industry for about 20 years. He and his wife, Brooke, completely renovated a home in Callaway on Kimball Street, so taking on a project like this was not a daunting task for the two men - other than the fact that they both have other full-time jobs.

“I do have my eyes open, but it would have to be the right home. I would be looking for something a little easier,” said Moore, referring to taking on another project. “This is basically a brand new home. The only thing that is old on it is the bones.”

“I really hope that we spark some interest in this program and motivate others to take some of these other houses that are just sitting there,” Moore continued. “Brooke and I drove around Callaway one day, and we counted 18 homes that were either uninhabitable or nobody has lived there since we’ve been here.

It’s good to see new houses going up in town, and I really hope we can motivate other people to do the same thing. We definitely don’t want Callaway to die.

I feel like it’s growing, and it’s great to be a part of that.”

For more information on rehab grant funds contact Callaway Economic Development Director Kacee Gillis.