Back before independent was called indie, the House Café, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, opened its doors to the rural community of DeKalb.

Since then, the House Café has gone through many changes and managers, from hippie hangout to jazz joint to indie-kid haven.

Fareed Haque, associate professor of music, bought the restaurant/ music venue three years ago and is handing the reins and lease over to Jan Pascolini on Oct. 1.

“We basically wanted to buy the building, get it financially in the black, and then pass it to a manager,” Haque said.

Pascolini said when she inquired the House Café, via 411, to be a part-time manager in February, she did not think she would be taking complete control of the House Café within the year.

“The Haques were thinking about renting the space out to another business,” Pascolini said. “We all wanted the House to survive, so I decided to take over the lease.”

Despite the presence of a large student population, the House Café has not always been able to hold business. Pascolini referred to attracting an alternative crowd and the general community as swimming upriver.

Giving control to Pascolini released pressure off of Haque’s personal schedule.
“There wasn’t much time to run a restaurant, teach, perform more than two hundred concerts a year, and have time to buy, say, toilet paper,” Haque said before a sound check at a Vermont music festival.

One change is the House Café will be open for food again, instead of just at night during shows. Pascolini hopes to turn the business back into a café rather than simply a music venue.

“We don’t just want students or artists, we want the whole community,” Pascolini said. “Everyone who comes here has their story. It’s the House, it’s a home.”

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