The House reopened this weekend, offering a warm, comfortable environment in sharp contrast to DeKalb’s recent weather.

Kelly Happe, an assistant professor of communication, sat and read Sunday afternoon while enjoying a hot cup of coffee at the restaurant, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

“[The House] isn’t a bar or a corporate chain, it’s an interesting social space,” Happe said. “This kind of place is the type of thing that makes a college town a college town.”

Happe said she went to The House four nights a week and was very sad when it closed. The House closed in December after then owner Sven Oscar Hansen, who also owns Glidden Campus Florist, 917 W. Lincoln Highway, decided a lack of customers and the difficulty of running two businesses warranted shutting down The House.

The House sat empty for four months collecting dust before finally opening its doors for business once again.

Cleaning up The House was a lot of hard work, said Kim Lueken, general manager of The House.

“The place needed a good cleaning and we reorganized a few things so people can see it’s different,” Lueken said.

The House did not advertise an opening date, but progress happened fast and it was able to open, Lueken said.

Local music is one thing which brought people into The House before it closed in December.

Jeff Wilschke, a DeKalb resident, applied for a job Sunday at The House. Wilschke said he used to go to The House for the music.

“I always came out for open mic night,” Wilschke said.

The House plans to continue offering live, local music.

For its opening week, The House will host an NIU Jazz Jam night Tuesday at 9 p.m., a free event, and on Saturday the Fareed Haque Group will be performing, Lueken said. Haque, an associate music professor, is the new owner of The House.

Open mic night is also something The House plans to continue, Lueken said.

Other customers were drawn to The House for what some characterized as its unique setting.

Erin Mallicoat, a graduate geography student, hung out at The House and utilized the free wireless Internet to get some homework done.

“I really enjoy this kind of atmosphere,” she said.

Mallicoat went to The House a few times a month before it closed and missed it a lot when it was gone.

Now that it’s open again, she said, she plans to go more often to take advantage of the laid back atmosphere.

DeKalb was very welcoming to The House coming back and Main Street DeKalb was happy to see the place open again, Leuken said.