Have you noticed that pink house near Douglas and Hillside? Here’s what’s in it.

Just like seemingly any home project, especially if the house is an old one, it took Tara Castillo much longer than planned to reopen her Violet Closet in a new bungalow.

Now that the upscale resale shop is open at 117 N. Chautauqua, which is near Douglas and Hillside, it all seems to be worth the wait.

“I guess I just thought I could make this little house come alive again,” Castillo said. “I really feel that I have.”

It sounds like her new neighbors agree.

“The neighbors that keep coming by are so thrilled. People have really enjoyed watching the place turn around.”

Last year, with the closure of the Green Elephant Village shopping center near Central and Hillside, Castillo was disappointed that she was being forced to move.

“Stubbornness made me absolutely just refuse to shut down the store,” she said. “I just didn’t want to go out because I was forced to.”

Castillo’s husband, Jerrome, who owns Titan Realty and Construction, found the early 1900s house for her, helped get it rezoned and oversaw the fixing of all the “old house things” they encountered along the way.

Tax records show the house was built in 1926, but Castillo said an electrician explained that it wasn’t uncommon for a house to be reregistered if something was added to it. He said he saw gas lines going to the house’s lights, and that indicated to him the house is even older.

The house had been a rental in recent years, and Castillo said it had been trashed.

“Jerrome wouldn’t even let me see the inside pictures because he was afraid I’d worry the germs would never leave.”

However, the space has been transformed, and it’s still in keeping with the French decor that Castillo’s previous space was known for.

Castillo calls herself a Francophile and said her “aesthetic has always been French inspired.”

In fact, so many people liked her French fixtures at her previous store, she’s going to start selling what she calls petite antiques she finds on her twice-yearly shopping trips to France.

That could be things like sets of linens, teaspoons or music boxes.

“Old things that I find and bring home from France,” Castillo said.

Also, for the first time, Castillo is opening up consignments to the Kansas City area where her daughter now lives and can help bring items from there to the store.

Castillo is still renovating the upstairs space at the house, which she’ll rent to another business when it’s completed, likely next year.

“I’m going to give myself a break,” she said. “I just want to enjoy my new place.”

Since opening on Friday, Castillo said she’s also been enjoying seeing her former customers and meeting new ones.

“Everyone is so happy that we’re open.”

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, and the shop is closed on Sunday and Monday.

Though she loved her old spot, Castillo said her new neighborhood — with neighbors who have lived there for years or even decades — feels like home.

“It really feels like so much more of a community.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2026 at 11:27 AM.