For Alon Shaya, it was all about the bouncy house.

When the celebrated chef and his spouse and business partner, Emily Ostuw Shaya, bought their former Mid-City sidehall cottage 12 years ago, they did so as a childless couple. That changed four years ago with the arrival of their daughter, and again 18 months ago with the arrival of their son.

“We needed a yard with room for a bouncy house for birthday parties,” Alon Shaya said. “It was no longer all about us.”

The couple spent a year looking for the right home. They wanted to be Uptown near the offices of their restaurant management company, Pomegranate Hospitality, and their children’s school.

In November 2024, they closed on a circa-1880 Greek Revival centerhall cottage on a tree-lined street in the Milan neighborhood, blocks from t

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