Little Did We Know: The Lomanaco Family
"To be honest, we had no idea where to live . . . Little did we know we'd moved to one of the best neighborhoods in Indy." Brett and Felicia Lomanaco grew up in North Carolina, met during college, got married a few years later and moved to Indianapolis in 2011, with their two-year-old daughter. They hadn't done any research or scoped out a lot of neighborhoods - they just knew they wanted to be somewhere in the city. Brett had been relocated to Shelbyville for his job, but living there was not an option from their point of view. They visited Indy for the first time on a summer weekend, looking for an apartment. The first day, after driving all around, they hadn't found anything and felt stressed and exhausted. The next morning they decided to take a look at Craigslist, immediately found an apartment listing at 19th & Delaware and within a few hours had seen it, loved it, and signed a lease. The Lomanacos loved their new neighborhood so much that within a year, they had purchased a house a few blocks away with the intention of rehabbing it and turning it into their dream home. "My husband started doing all the demo work [in 2012] and realized pretty quickly that if we wanted to move in before I was all gray, he'd better hire someone to GC it," said Felicia. Trade Design Studio finished the project, and they moved in during the fall of 2013.
When asked what makes Herron-Morton Place unique, Felicia says, "The sense of community and all the families make it truly special . . . Herron-Morton Place is very social. I feel like the HMP Association and Foundation do a great job listening to the neighbors and are always looking for ways to improve and bring the neighbors together. Annually there are wonderful events for everyone. I have been in charge of planning the Easter egg hunt for the last four years and I am always amazed at all the kids who live in HMP." Many of those kids go to school with Felicia's oldest daughter at the neighborhood magnet school, CFI (Center For Inquiry) #27. Several more attend the YMCA's preschool at the Athenaeum with her younger daughter.
Some of their favorite things about living in urban Indy include "the cool nights in the summer (if you're from the east coast you know what I mean), after-dinner walks to the park, the random porch parties, my historic home, the YMCA Child Watch and most importantly the people--Midwest hospitality at its finest!"