New preschool to open in vintage Woodstock house

By Elizabeth Ussher Groff

The Bee, Jul 7, 2010

This fall, when extensive renovations are complete, Keli Cronen will be the preschool teacher at The Homestead Schoolhouse, as it opens on Woodstock Boulevard, across from Otto’s.

Elizabeth Ussher Groff / THE BEE

The “Homestead Market and Gallery”, in a 1912 house on the north side of Woodstock Boulevard across from Otto’s Sausages and Meats, was for many years a neighborhood icon, and a year-’round store with Christmas ornaments and old-world trinkets.

In the late ’90’s the Homestead shop closed, and in 2002 Mr. Ole Lilleoren sold it to Brian Barisich, a neighborhood landlord with an affinity for older houses.

This vintage house has been a point of conversation for years, as local residents and business owners have discussed its ideal location and possible future. Earlier this year the Love ‘N Learn Day Care Center, its recent tenant, moved out.

And so it is that for the past month an ambitious young couple, Kiley and Keli Cronen, along with help from their extended family, have been renovating, cleaning, and painting the Homestead.

In September the Homestead house will be opening — offering a preschool called “The Homestead Schoolhouse”.

For Keli Cronen, it is the fulfillment of a dream.

“For five years we would sit at Otto’s, across from the Homestead, and dream about having a preschool there,” says Keli, who will be the teacher there.

As Woodstock residents for six years, the Cronens are familiar with the neighborhood. “We love the sense of community and the small-town feel. This was the neighborhood that made us realize this was where we wanted to stay.

“There are so many young families and great family activities here — the summer parade and festival, the picnic, the park, the library,” says Keli. “I think that parents here are really involved with their children and care about their education.”

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