Lana Pagel aims to uphold her late neighbor’s legacy with rental property
Lana Pagel was able to turn a devastating and sudden death of a neighbor, Teri, into a powerful celebration of her life by transforming the residence into an Airbnb that memorializes Teri’s legacy.
Pursuing Passion
Pagel, who works for a judge and lives in Loveland, decided 12 years ago that she wanted to go to design school, so she cut back her hours at work and pursued her passion.
Over the years, Pagel and her husband became close with their neighbor, Teri. Teri, as Pagel describes, was an older woman in her 60s who lived alone with her cats and dogs. In July 2020, Teri passed away suddenly from ovarian cancer, which Pagel says was devastating.
“We were kind of nervous about who would buy her house because she kept to herself. She was never in your business or anything; she was a great neighbor,” Pagel says.
Teri’s nephew was supposed to inherit the house but was unable to take the property, so the family decided to sell the house. Without even speaking to her husband, Pagel told the family she wanted to buy Teri’s house. Pagel says she didn’t know at the time what she would do with the house—flip it, rent it, etc. However, she decided that, if the time ever came when her parents needed to move closer to her, they could live in the home next door.
In the meantime, Pagel decided to transform the home into an Airbnb to make some extra cash in order to pay off the home. In September 2020, Pagel closed on the home and started executing her vision for the perfect rental property.
Upholding a Legacy
The one thing that Pagel always thought of when decorating the home was Teri. She wanted to preserve Teri’s memory throughout the home and honor her.
“I also wanted to make sure that her soul was still here… I just wanted to make sure that there were little nods to the things that she loved throughout the house,” Pagel says. “If you knew her and you walked in, you would go, ‘Oh my gosh, Teri would love it.’”
Although Pagel made some minor changes to Teri’s home—such as opening up the space between the kitchen and living room—she wanted to keep the “soul of the house intact.” The original hardwood floors are still there. In the bathroom, the original pink and black tiles are still there—just with a twist of gold hardware and accents. Pagel also renovated the back deck, making it “fresh and bright.”
Before opening the property for guests, Pagel invited Teri’s family over and asked them if Teri would have been happy with the new home. Pagel also put a sign out front with Teri’s name on it and has a book out for guests that explains the story of the home and Teri.
“I want everybody that comes to know that this is her house; we just get to take care of it for her,” Pagel says.
Those who are interested in renting the home can find it at airbnb.com under the heading “A charming bungalow ‘The Loveland Guesthouse.’”