RestorationConsultant

I agree dmerkow. The Second Empire style is one of the most highly desired forms of Victorian Era Architecture . I do consulting work all accross the country and Second Empires are rare in most areas. Although Cincinnati is nationally known in the Preservation Community for its Italianate Architecure, ( OTR & Dayton Street) few know just how much Second Empire there is in Cincinnati. It is even rarer, is the "cottage form" that is so prevelant in Cincinanati. Normally this style was reserved for 'mansions'. In most parts of the country these would be merticulously restored and be "high end" houses, yet here they are mostly cheap rentals.There are several in our area and when you consider that despite their diminutive size when viewed from the front they are actually reasonably sized 1600-2000 square feet. Some pics I took of one the next street over that has has a later Victorian porch added to it and HAS the Corbels. My plan is to duplicate this Corbel design on our houses. This home has a double upper window. Like mine the window surround is tin. That is very rare in other parts of the country as elaborate tin work was generally reserved for only for commercial structures.

Yes Im on city data too, You cant believe how many people "warned" us about the neighborhood, however I have to say we have great neighbors and many new people have moved into the area. Sure we have some "issues" to address in the area but there is some nice architecture that needs some TLC. We actualy started a neighborhood group called Knox Hill Neighborhood Association to "rebrand " our area. There are some really nice pocket neighborhoods and people just have totally negative view when you say Fairmount. Mostly people who have never gotten past Harrison Ave.

Couple of photos of the status of our House Restoration in the Knox Hill area of Fairmount. The home was built in 1871 and is in the Second Empire Cottage style, common in Cincinnati, but rarely restored. You usually see these covered with vinyl siding. This home was built by wealthy downtown business man who wanted a weekend getaway form the grime of the city in 1871. The Knox Hill area has everything from small cottages to some grand mansions. We are using a total of 9 colors in the Historic preservation palette. We are removing the 40's era siding and residing with Hardi siding and restoring the original siding where possible, The new porch has hand stencilled panels. I hope next weekend to finish trimming out the bumpout and installing the stained glass Transom window that will go over the new picture window We once had formal gardens on the double lot and I hope to restore those as well. The last photo is what we started with Last Fall when we bought the house.

I hope that this grant allows work to progress on this home. As a historic Restoration Consultant I know just how much work is required to properly restore a historic home. This one needs a lot of work and I am glad to see they are getting this grant. I do think they need to find a way to do some private fundraising to make this project happen.

I have been involved with urban gardening project in a few cities over the years. I hope that the city has the foresight to test the land prior to providing plots. In almost all "urban" lots there are high levels of lead and other contaminants that can be absorbed by certain garden plants in unsafe levels. Raised garden plots are preferable where new soil is brought in. Urban gardening can be very successful or a big failure if proper planning doesn't take place. Many city "take' to the urban gardening idea because it is popular and makes sense however there is a great deal of planning. Does anyone know if Cincinnati is doing testing on the soil?

Some updates: Cincinnati allows a private property owner to pull their own demo permit and its the owner that will demo. In my opinion a major loophome the city needs to close. Demolition should ONLY be done by a contractor with bonding and insurance If property owners knew they have to pay a demo contactor 10-15K per building then they might not let them get run down. This is a historic area but not restricted. I have been told by someone who had a converation with the owners, if someone would step forward they would sell, I imagine, not for much. The ideal use would be back as single family, there are homes on Dayton Street directly behind this block that are worth over 250K and some of the smaller homes have sold for 100-150K. I think a developer could restore the two smaller houses as single family and possibly convert the 2 larger ones into condos. You could get 3 nice units per building. It would be a viable project. There are vacant lots that are on the block where you could build new infill townhomes. Given its right off Central Parkway and minutes to downtown , this should be a "no brainer" for a savvy developer.

As someone who has been looking in OTR for a building to restore and locate our business in for the last 9 months , I can tell you its not that easy.Most of the mixed use retail first floor properties are held by investor types asking 80-250 for 20 foot wide, 2-3 story building that is totally bombed out. They have no intention of doing anything with it and if it deteriorates they figure 3cdc will come along and buy it to protect their investment. 3CDC has been both a godsend and a curse because it has created an "investor market" and prices are way above market considering the condition. I know from experience what it costs to restore one of these buildings. And I'm not talking about Main or Vine but areas like Elm and Race. I looked at one over the weekend that you couldn't even walk through the upper floors because it wasn't safe and he wanted 150K for it. We were looking at a 350K to 400K rehab cost on a building that tops redone is worth 250K. There are buildings out there but not at an affordable pricce given the restore costs.

1.) Cincinnati has an appearance problem. We need an ordinance banning billboards in historic districts and a 5 year plan to eliminate them entirely. Many cities have already gone this route. 2) Lank Bank: The city needs to set a up a landbank of available city owned properties and properties slated for demolition. They should be sold to owner occupants capable of demonstrating financial ability and permits must be pulled with 30 days of close. 3) 3CDC needs to let go of some of their properties. They own more buildings than they can ever fix up and there are people now willing to come into OTR and restore these homes. We don't need "monopoly" ownership of blocks of OTR, that is not how you rebuild a neighborhood.

Uncle Rando: my blog is http://victorianantiquitiesanddesign.blogspot.com/ Other updates: I started sending emails to council members to see if anyone at the city wanted to take responsibility for this and why these kinds of demolitions were being done without public input or oversite from the council?. I also posted this on a national historic architecture site and got several responses. I emailed the National Trust for Historic Preservation today and asked the properties be listed on their "Preservation 911" site

Dan B :The city and the property owner have been going back and forth since 06. They have been boarded for some time. City has cut the power and disconnected utlities so it on the demo list. I canmt imagine the owner at this point wouldnt be willing to sell or give them away rather than them be torn down ata cost of about 10 grand a piece and then teh city is stuck with 4 vacant lots that arent generating any taxes. Uncle Rando: I have so far contacted the National Trust to ask it be on their Presrvation 911 site. I sent an email to local preservation and have no reply form them yet. Ive even let several people know I'd donate my time to write a comprehensive restoration plan if they can be saved. The whole thing may boil down to getting city legal and the owner to reach a compromise. Maybe let him put them up for sale with a protective covenant that new owners must pull permits in 30 days or something like that. I also put it on my blog and I got emails from several local people who said they would be interested in them, so I dont know, I hope someone at local historic preservation gets back to me.

Apparently ciity legal and the owner of the property dont get along. The buildings are structurally fine but being vacant are attracting problems, Nothing that couldnt be solved if they were sold and restored. Why any city would tear down 4 historic buildings just amazes me.

The city of Cincinnati is planning to bulldoze 4 Historic Italianate Brick homes 833-839 Bank Street. These four homes are directly behind historic Dayton Street which has some of the best and most expensive restored homes in the city. These homes which have been vacant for years are restorable and should be preserved. Apparently the city is unwilling to try and work out a compromise. These homes are important and should be saved and someone at the city needs to be held accountable.