As their two daughters excitedly talk about their upcoming school year at St. Peter, and their sweet rescue dogs bask in their sun-filled corner of the house, Greg and Eve Beye sit in the oldest part of their historic home, built in 1881. They talk about the life these walls have seen over the past 145 years. “The history that has passed through this house is incredible,” Greg says. Eve recalls the first time she saw the house, “The yard looked like a park, and the house was charming and worn, and full of possibility.”
Transforming the house into their home
From the time they bought the house to the day they moved in, Greg and Eve took on a major 2.5-year renovation, though they’re still lovingly tackling projects five years later. They lifted the whole house, rebuilt the foundation, and added a basement. They turned the two-bedroom into a four-bedroom family home, making it work for their active family while respecting the original charm and character.
Greg laughs, “I've gotten more into windows than I ever would've imagined.” As he learned about old-growth lumber and century-old craftsmanship, he became determined to keep the original windows. “I've been slowly restoring all the old wood windows by hand. I've actually been buying old window sashes on Facebook Marketplace and removing the wavy, handmade glass to use in the ones I'm fixing up. These windows are 140 years old, but despite what you read in advertisements, with a little TLC, they can perform just as well as modern double-pane windows. I didn't want to tear them out and replace them with aluminum ones that would look out of character for the house.”
Inside, Eve's sister-in-law, an interior designer, helped bring their style to life. She mixed modern comfort with historic charm. Wide-plank floors with square-cut nails sit alongside crystal doorknobs and cozy, lived-in rooms.
But the basement might be the home's most popular feature, with built-in bunk beds made for sleepovers. “We've got two girls,” Eve says. “We knew they were going to have people over all the time.”
“We've been very blessed to have been able to take on this size of renovation,” Greg says. “And we didn't want to keep it to ourselves.”
The St. Peter connection
If their house is what keeps the family grounded, St. Peter is what brings them together.
Vivienne, 12, and Margot, 10, just finished sixth and fourth grade and have grown up at the school. Both girls play CYC basketball, soccer, golf, lacrosse, and volleyball, and they also play club soccer for Kirkwood United and Gallagher. “It's not just school and sports,” Eve says. “They're learning how to give back every single day.”
If you ask what makes St. Peter special, Greg and Eve will talk about the teachers. They'll mention Dr. Freitag's famous five-clap that quiets a gym full of kids, and fourth graders who collected over 1,000 items for the Blessing Box and raised more than 3,000 dollars with lemonade stands. But most of all, they talk about the sense of belonging.
Greg says. “As soon as you start to put yourself out there, you just get sucked in. Before you know it, you know everybody.”
Every month, the family prepares a meal for the Sts. Peter and Paul soup kitchen downtown. Eve has organized Faith in Action volunteers, and Greg co-captains a Thursday night shift at the St. Peter Christmas tree lot. They have also hosted stops at the parish progressive dinner, new parent parties, and capital campaign gatherings at their home.
“That was another way for Greg to sell me on the house,” Eve laughs. “He said, ‘Now that we have this house, we need to use it for more than just ourselves.’” And he's definitely kept that promise.
When parade floats become engineering projects
Every year, St. Peter's fourth graders build a float for the Greentree Festival parade. Greg, being an engineer, got involved even before his kids reached fourth grade.
It started when he overheard some parents planning to buy float decorations from Amazon, and it quickly became Greg's newest engineering project. “I walked into the meeting with some detailed sketches and said, ‘Let's do this instead,’” Greg laughs.
Greg came up with a Lion King-inspired float as a play on St. Peter’s mascot, the Pride. “I had the animals attached to a crankshaft, moving back and forth as if cheering. But the motor burned out the night before the parade. To get it working for the parade, I climbed inside the very cramped base of the float and rotated the shaft by hand for the entire parade route. We took second place that year,” Greg says.
In 2023, instead of building a typical train float for the city's “Kirkwood Transportation” theme, Greg designed a detailed, stationary streetcar replica. His plan included a hidden motor-driven pulley system that would rotate a painted canvas backdrop, making it appear as if the trolley were moving through town. The fourth graders dressed as 1920s “newsies” handed out fake town newspapers. The float won a proud third-place trophy.
Last year, the float was a real team effort with several other St. Peter families contributing great ideas. The St. Peterfest-inspired float, complete with a working Ferris wheel, won first place.
Greg says he's retired from float building now, but Eve isn't so sure. “I can't imagine a situation where he wouldn't help again,” she teases.
Don’t forget the dogs
The family wouldn't be complete without their rescue dogs. Greg and Eve care deeply about rescuing dogs in need of loving homes.
Their approach is simple: rescue, train, love, and respect the responsibility that comes with having dogs. “Every dog has a different personality,” Greg says. “They're not people. They need structure and a whole lot of patience and understanding.”
Sawyer, their 14-year-old terrier mix, was their first rescue, adopted from Gateway Pet Guardians when Eve and Greg were newly engaged. Their younger dog, Teddy, came from Judy's Forgotten Jewels. Every year, the dogs get a birthday cake from Treats Unleashed and a Thanksgiving dinner of canned turkey and pie. “You can't forget the dogs,” says Eve.
The family lost two beloved dogs in the past year, and the grief is still fresh. “People who haven't lost a dog don't understand how hard that hits you,” Greg says quietly. “That bond between human and animal is special.”
Someday, when their girls are older, Greg and Eve hope to adopt the dogs who need the most help, like tripod dogs, seniors, and other unwanted dogs. “We'll jump at the chance when it's the right time,” Eve says.
Embracing this community
The family calendar is packed with outings at their local favorite places: the Greentree Festival, Route 66 Car Festival, Thursday night concerts at the plaza, the Fourth of July kids' bike parade, Webster Groves Jazz Festival, Grant's Farm Halloween nights, Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and St. Louis CITY SC matches, now that the girls love soccer. The day after Thanksgiving, they have a tradition of enjoying a long lunch in downtown Kirkwood, going Christmas shopping, and then picking out their tree.
“We're proud to be part of this community,” Eve says. “We chose it. And we're grateful every day that we did.”
“We want our daughters to understand how fortunate they are,” says Greg. “We want them to realize that the ultimate purpose of being blessed with a great home and a great community is to give back to the people around you.”