Fred Astaire's Omaha house is being renovated: 'We get people coming in from all over the world'

He just tells them about his work to restore the Omaha house where Fred Astaire was born.

“If they’re younger than 40, they’re saying, ‘Who?’ And then the more mature they are, the more of the response I get,” Hug said. “People in their 50s are, ‘Oh yeah, that’s nice.’ People in their 60s and older go, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’”

For the under-40 crowd, Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha in 1899. He had an older sister, Adele, born in 1896. The family lived in the house at 2326 S. 10th St.

Fred, who died in 1987, “was considered by many to be the top entertainer of the twentieth century with success on stage, in film, through recordings, and on television,” according to History Nebraska.

Fred’s father worked at Storz Brewing. And legend has it that Fred took his first dance steps at the Chambers Dance Academy in Omaha at age 4.

Fred and Adele, became a vaudeville act, and the family moved to New York. The pair changed their last name to Astaire.

As Fred and Adele Astaire, they were prodigies in vaudeville, then grownup stars on Broadway. When Adele retired to marry an English nobleman, Fred moved into films and formed a partnership with Ginger Rogers.

According to History Nebraska, that partnership with Rogers “produced some of film’s most renowned and loved dance scenes.”

Hug, also a member of the Omaha City Council, represents the nonprofit 1880 House, which is working to preserve the home and return it to how it would have looked when Fred and Adele lived there.

“We want to give people a real true representation of how the average working family would have lived 1880 to 1890, even up to 1900,” Hug said.

Initially, Hug said he was using the word museum to describe what the house would become, but now he sees it as a venue for hands-on experiences. People will be able to host parties, get married or just enjoy the space.

“They can sit down in that chair,” Hug said. “They can play the piano. They can crank up the Edison phonograph and play a record.”

All of that stuff was built to be used, Hug said.

‘You have to tear out so much before you start putting it back in’

The house was built in 1880 and was a private residence for years before the nonprofit acquired it. Hug said the house was full of so much stuff from previous occupants that it took four dumpsters to get rid of everything.

Then workers and volunteers worked to secure the house from animals and people who may have wandered in and out during the years it was vacant.

Workers also have torn out layers of flooring, wallpaper and the front porch of the house.

Under the layers of flooring, workers found newspapers stuck to the floor, including a 1953 article from The World-Herald with the headline, “P-TA’s set Meet Record.”

Hug had an expert look at all the wallpaper before five layers of it was torn out to make sure it wasn’t original to the house. Most of the layers were from the 1930s and ‘40s.

“You have to tear out so much before you start putting it back in,” Hug said.

Unlike other houses, Hug said the house that Fred was born in was not remodeled or improved over and over again through the decades. There are no electrical outlets in the walls. Hug thinks the kitchen sink is probably from the 1910s.

A monument to ‘all the stars that came out of Omaha’

Hug said he will hold another fundraising drive this spring, but thanks to donations, they have enough money to finish getting electricity in the house, the plumbing fixed, air conditioning and a furnace installed.

Hug, a self-described “old movie buff,” said it was always nice to watch Fred knowing he was from Omaha.

Fred’s connection to Omaha and the house on 10th Street has been celebrated over the years. The City of Omaha put up a commemorative sign for Fred Astaire Avenue on 10th Street at Martha Street, less than a block from the house where he was born.

Hug said he’s been working with History Nebraska to get a historical marker placed in front of the house.

“We get people coming in from all over the world,” Hug said. “Everyone takes their picture in front of the house.”

The interest in the house was one of the reasons Hug said it needs to be restored and saved.

Hug said many of the places with ties to Omaha’s famous actors and actresses have been demolished, which is why it’s important to save the house where Fred was born.

Hug listed actors and actresses such as Dorothy McGuire, Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando and Henry Fonda, who have Omaha roots.

“This house should never be in private hands again,” Hug said. “It should never be a personal residence. It should be preserved and saved not only as a monument to Fred Astaire and his sister Adele, who was very famous in her own right, but to all the stars that came out of Omaha.”