‘One of the charms of Rockford’: Couple buys century-old Tudor home for new hair salon

August 6, 2024|By Kevin Haas|In Real estate, Featured, 815 News, Rock River Current, Rockford, Business, Business/development, Top Stories

Olfania Helmich and David Margolis stand Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in front of Hair by Oly, 1720 Rural St. in Rockford. The new hair salon opens in the more than century old home that formerly housed Becker Realty. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A more than century-old Tudor home that operated for years as the Becker Realty office has been restyled. It will now serve as the new home for a hair salon owned by a couple who says they were drawn here from Florida in part because of charming properties like this one.

David Margolis and Olfania Helmich purchased the property at 1720 Rural Street in late June to serve as the home for her studio, Hair by Oly. They moved here from Fort Lauderdale two years ago after they said the city’s beautiful parks, trees, Rock River, historic downtown, Anderson Japanese Gardens and historic buildings and homes throughout the community made them fall in love with Rockford.

“When people ask us where are we from, we don’t say from Chicago area,” said Helmich, who was running a salon in Florida before the couple moved here. “We say from Rockford and we talk about Rockford, the charms of Rockford, and this is going to be one of the charms of Rockford.”

Hair by Oly opens on Thursday and operates by appointment.

Helmich, a native of Honduras who first came to the country in 2000 as an exchange student, has been a hair stylist for about 15 years. Margolis, a Skokie native, is semi-retired after 35 years in the hotel industry. He still takes on consulting work for hotels. His most recent role before moving here was as the director of group sales for Jimmy Buffett’s flagship Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort in Florida.

The new home of Hair by Oly is in a 1920 Tudor-style residence that operated for 53 years as the offices for Ken Becker’s real estate business. Becker, who retired after 60 years in the business, got a trim at the salon last week to become Helmich’s first official customer at her new business.

Ken Becker sits in the red salon chair on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, with Olfania Helmich and David Margolis. The couple, who moved to Rockford from Florida, bought Becker’s old real estate offices for the new salon. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Becker said he bought the home in 1971 from a former Rockford police officer and got the city’s OK for it to be rezoned for commercial use.

“He’s been an anchor in that neighborhood for all these years, and everybody knows him,” said Jean Crosby, a Realtor and an owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Crosby Starck Real Estate. “He’s always kept the building looking good. He took great care and was a good steward of the assets he had.”

Crosby served as the Realtor on the listing for Becker, who now struggles with Parkinson’s Disease. She said his long tenure in the neighborhood was a testament to his success in the real estate industry.

“He’s always been a tactical individual, highly protective of his clients,” she said. “He really, really stood tall for them and would step into the fray any time to protect their interests.”

Becker sold it to Margolis on June 28 for $112,000, according to records from the Winnebago County Clerk & Recorder.

“They’re perfect buyers for this property,” Crosby said. “They’re going to take wonderful care of it.”

Helmich and Margolis, who were married in Rockford last October, have decorated the property to match its historic character. They even left some items as an homage to Becker, including a few of his athletic trophies in the entryway that were in the property while it was his business.

“I’m proud to say he was my first customer,” Helmich said.

Renovations to the property were done to keep with the historic look of the building. For example, they removed carpet from the first floor and refinished and refreshed the hardwood floors that were beneath.

The decor also includes antique dishes and silverware in a tea room near the entryway. The main foyer features era-appropriate furnishings such as a pair of wood and leather upholstery armchairs nestled next to a brick fireplace. Some of the furniture came from the neighboring Carpenter’s Corner thrift store across the street at 1715 Rural Street in the former Hilander grocery.

“We wanted to preserve the history of the house, so we started looking for furnishings to match,” Margolis said gesturing to a dresser in the hair studio. “A lot of this furniture — that piece, the two cabinets in the living room — came from across the street. They know is us by name because I feel like we’re in there every other day trying to find something.”

Olfania Helmich stands in the foyer of her salon Hair by Oly, which is at 1720 Rural St. at the former Becker Realty office. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Helmich said she hopes her studio will become a place where whole families feel comfortable coming together or individually for their hair cuts and stylings.

The business has a homey feel and, as Helmich puts it, is a smaller version of a Tudor-style home that she and Margolis bought when they decided to live in Rockford.

Helmich said she sees great potential in Rockford. She said some of Rockford’s walking paths and historic properties reminded her of traveling in some European neighborhoods.

“When we went to London, we went to places where they are proud to be from London,” she said. “When we came to Rockford, I saw these beautiful houses and I said, wow, this feels like we can be here and be proud to be from Rockford.”