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It started with a heart bomb.

John Pyrovolakis of New York City had recently bought an aging structure on the outskirts of Omaha’s Old Market when a colleague called to report that it had been plastered with red hearts and such messages as “Historic and hot” and “Keep on loving me.”

Perplexed, Pyrovolakis called the culprit, which led to a whole new relationship — and what both he and Restoration Exchange Omaha expect to be a happily-ever-after ending for the 123-year-old building.

What surfaced in the meantime also is special: a never-before-told (at least to this extent) account of what went on behind the doors of 1501 Howard St.

The Pyrovolakis property, it turns out, had been built originally as a carriage factory for one of Omaha’s pioneer blacksmiths. Among other owners were the prominent George A. Joslyn and Allen C. Scott, who invented a version of the modern parachute.

A local researcher who documented that history for a pending landmark designation said each era exposed an owner or a use more intriguing than the next.

“It was like an onion with all those layers,” said Restoration Exchange’s Patrick Thompson. “It kept getting better.”