So, not that long ago, I purchased a property in OTR with plans to rehab it.  It's located on Mulberry Street, so it's just on the border of OTR.  Good views (especially of OTR, Music Hall, Union Terminal) and a quiet street.  There are newer properties built within the last ten years just across the street.

 

I am getting near the point where plans are coming together for the rehab, and I hope to keep track of some of the progress in this thread.  (I have no idea if this will interest anyone at all, but hey, it seems like the right crowd for it!)  There are some Urban Ohio connections at play that you will hear about as well. 

 

First things first:  I am going to try and get some pictures of it in its present state within the next couple of weeks, and will post them here.  More to come!

Get some pictures of the view as well, and some exterior shots of other houses on your block. It will be interesting to see how much the neighborhood has changed a few years from now.

 

Certainly.  There will be plenty of pics! 

Oh, very nice! Me and Jeffrey biked by this in the summer. There is a lot of potential here. The building on the left is pretty old, but what about on the right?

http://goo.gl/maps/0iJ4E

Congrats! Can't wait to see it progress!

Oh, very nice! Me and Jeffrey biked by this in the summer. There is a lot of potential here. The building on the left is pretty old, but what about on the right?

http://goo.gl/maps/0iJ4E

 

Well, it's hard to tell but it's actually three buildings.  The one on the left is from the 1880s-1890s.  On the right, the left hand part is from about the same vintage, but the single-level sanctuary of the church on the far right is from somehwere around 1920.  They look a lot different under that horrible 60s-70s facade that was added. 

I rehab houses, a few have been "historic" ones.  Can't wait to watch your progress.

Get some pictures of the view as well, and some exterior shots of other houses on your block. It will be interesting to see how much the neighborhood has changed a few years from now.

 

 

Great idea to post pics of current condition and progress made. Look forward to seeing it.

A couple of pictures: 

 

Here is the front.  Property includes everything from the wrought-iron fence on the left over to the church sanctuary on the right (with the glass block cross). 

 

 

These are the houses directly across the street:

 

 

You can kind of tell that they have pretty awesome rooftop decks on the front there to get a nice city view.  I think they do a good job concealing them.  When you are at streetlevel, it's very hard to make out the decks. 

As to the inside, it is very little to write home about.  By that I mean it is primarily a bunch of wood paneling and drop ceilings.  There is essentially no historical detail left in the building.  But it's got space and views and a great potential as far as a yard goes.

Very nice. In terms of location, I especially like that the property is right next to steps that go down into the basin. Great pedestrian access to Findlay Market and Vine Street.

Good area with potential. The new infill housing across the street is sympathetic to the district's Victorian era Italianate style townhomes. Any ideas on a stylistic direction to go? The default or safe direction would be to try to bring back a similar Italianate flavor. If historic district zoning overlay is present, then rehab plans will probably have to be presented for design review to receive a certificate of appropriateness or something along those lines. Since the Victorian Italianate style was characterized by a blocky cube-like massing or footprint it's easy to replicate. A flat façade with a side entry and some semblance of a cornice at the top with some regularly spaced corbels/brackets will do the job nicely. Painted bricks can be repainted in brick colors saving time and the expense of removing later paint layers. (which is dicey when old soft bricks are involved) Of course, if there are no design restrictions, you have more freedom but if you're on-board with the steady improvement in this area I'd think you would not wish to plop down some modernist mid-1950's retro façade right in the middle of Italianate-ville. That's part of the problem now with the Church facility which is completely out of context and architectural harmony with the rest of the neighborhood. It's somewhat positive that you don't have to weigh interior considerations of original vs. new so your only design constraints are with the dimensions and layout of the exterior walls. You might want to tour some of the new OTR development for interior ideas. Of course, for most of us a budget is also a consideration so unless yours is unlimited a reasonable compromise between style and practicality will be necessary. For most rehabbers, a one-room-at-a-time approach works best. You will surely need an oasis to escape from the construction dust, stress, and mess as well as to provide the inspiration to do additional rooms. Most failed or abandoned rehabs I've seen involved a whole house gutting to the studs approach which can quickly lead to "rehab fatigue" or project burnout. Then again, if you have a crew working in tandem with a construction manager and/or a architect supervising the project your best bet is to live somewhere else until most of the work is completed. I congratulate you on your decision and wish more folks would take on the challenge. The West End has the same potential as the now gentrifying OTR yet the urban pioneer phenomenon there is still a novelty. With infill development and good design overview both OTR and the West End have great potential to become Cincinnati's most coveted urban neighborhoods in the near future. (regardless of the Streetcar's ultimate fate) The historic architecture still remaining is of the kind most other cities would be envious to have. I look forward to reading your progress as you help contribute to the OTR renaissance. Good luck!

^ Unlimited budget, I like the sound of that. 

Budget not unlimited, as you no doubt surmised...

John S., thanks for the kind words!  Working with architects right now.  Don't have any finalized designs, but certainly aware of the historic nature (and zoning/historic district overlays).  When plans are approved I will certainly share them...

 

And I agree with you completely re: the West End.  Lots of very cool housing stock there. 

Thankfully, as property values have steadily climbed in OTR (someone said its incorrect to put "the" in front of OTR) demolitions there (unless new development is waiting) are tapering off. Couldn't happen too soon as past demolitions have pushed surviving OTR historic structures into the 50% range which is considered a minimum for retaining a National Register historic district status. In the West End only a small portion (the Dayton Street corridor) is historic district protected but everything around Dayton built before 1910 should be protected, IMO. It's bad enough the freeway sliced and diced through the once large neighborhood and before that the Laurel Homes and Union Station projects decimated blocks of mid-19th century housing. Having mentioned that, I'm still awed by what remains-I believe it has the potential to become the next Mt. Adams over time. New upscale infill townhomes catering to downtown professional workers could rapidly push up historic West End old townhome values in a short period of time.

 

The same phenomenon happened in front of Washington Park after its makeover and made believers out of former skeptics. Although I'm a non-resident and admit being somewhat puzzled at the election of a new mayor who ran on a streetcar project cancellation platform (seems sort of like trying to push the genie back in the bottle) I'm still bullish about the future of Cincinnati. Too much inner-city investment has been made in recent years for the parties involved to throw up their hands, fold, and meekly walk away. But even in the present atmosphere of uncertainty, I think your property on Mulberry Street is a sound investment and will complement the infill houses already across the street. Good to hear you have an architect's input as they can come up with creative solutions that work with your "limited" budget. I assume then you'll have a construction crew coming in or do you plan to invest some sweat equity into the project? Looking forward to progress reports and images being posted as they may help inspire others to take up the challenge. Such collective efforts become positively transforming. (but I also understand the societal downsides of gentrification)  I don't think I exaggerate mentioning just over a decade ago buying and rehabbing a property like yours in this location would have been considered beyond risky if not dangerous. Just imagine what the improving surroundings will look like a decade from now?

That church sanctuary should be interesting to watch.

For the record, I removed the address from the title and post just as a precaution.  I've already been looted of copper once so there's not really anything of value left inside, but still. 

From 1970-1984 I attended that little church. In very tumultuous times it was indeed a sanctuary. Sometime in the mid 70's the church purchased and renovated the building you are rehabbing. that's probably where the drop ceilings and paneling come from, what can I say, it was cool then. We used it as Sunday school rooms, coffee house etc. It's nice to see it getting some love, good luck to you in this endeavor.

 

My wife and I are right down the street from you at 103 Mulberry.  We just purchased 102 Peete St as well and it is under construction now plus two more on Peete, 75 and 65 both will be going under construction soon.  Any help you need, just let us know.  Welcome to the street.

From 1970-1984 I attended that little church. In very tumultuous times it was indeed a sanctuary. Sometime in the mid 70's the church purchased and renovated the building you are rehabbing. that's probably where the drop ceilings and paneling come from, what can I say, it was cool then. We used it as Sunday school rooms, coffee house etc. It's nice to see it getting some love, good luck to you in this endeavor.

 

 

Got any pictures from back in the day? 

From 1970-1984 I attended that little church. In very tumultuous times it was indeed a sanctuary. Sometime in the mid 70's the church purchased and renovated the building you are rehabbing. that's probably where the drop ceilings and paneling come from, what can I say, it was cool then. We used it as Sunday school rooms, coffee house etc. It's nice to see it getting some love, good luck to you in this endeavor.

 

 

Got any pictures from back in the day? 

  Sadly, no. I grew up in a large family, 10 brothers and sisters. One thing I discovered in the family dynamic, is that the females (sisters, girlfriends, wives) were known to abscond with photos on a regular basis. Any picture that had a connection to them or the object of their affection was deftly relocated to be added to their own personal memorabilia. Over time, through breakups and divorces, and photos simply being lost, any and all trace of those times are long gone.

My wife and I are right down the street from you at 103 Mulberry.  We just purchased 102 Peete St as well and it is under construction now plus two more on Peete, 75 and 65 both will be going under construction soon.  Any help you need, just let us know.  Welcome to the street.

 

Thanks, Michael.  Holly (and Stacy) sold me my condo down on Vine Street.  I've talked with her about the Mulberry property a little bit. 

Asbestos remediation is complete, which has partially revealed some wooden floors.  May be possible to rehab those floor--not clear at this point.  Next step is the rest of the interior demo (i.e., taking down all of the drop ceilings, paneling, etc.). 

Interior demo has begun.  Will try to get some pics....

 

When demo is complete, that might call for a party.  Will keep you all posted.

Probably not a good idea to try and sand those floors yourself.  Whoever owned my house before me did it themselves and basically ruined the original floor.  I think he ended up creating the many dings (it looks like a car hood that got hit by softball-sized hail) because the floor itself had some soft spots that he did not shore up before sanding. 

Despite being excited to see them, the floors are really not in the shape to be revitalized.  (And for the record, there is going to be very little at the property that I am doing myself.) 

^Got any pics?  You might be surprised about those floors.  Even horrific looking hardwood can turn out great with the right amount of sanding and staining.  That place looks like it's 100+ years old, so the finished product shouldn't look perfect anyway.  But if they've been torn up, patched, and repatched, that's a whole other story.

^ Yes. The only reason for not salvaging an old solid hardwood floor is that it has been sanded too many times and nails are showing, too much of it needs to be replaced because of water damage (maybe > 20%?), or that fixing structural issues requires one to remove large sections of the floor. On the other hand, stains, sun bleaching, filth, etc, add character that you can't buy.

Definitely.  I live in an old house as well.  My favorite section of hardwood is a water damaged portion of the kitchen.  There was formerly a short cabinet and sink under the windows.  You can tell exactly where the baseboards and cabinet dividers were, but I think it looks awesome.  Someone had changed the layout and laid linoleum tile over it before I bought the house, so I didn't know it was there until I gutted the kitchen:

 

No pics, sorry.  They are plain-sawn pine with a good amount of water damage and enough nails seemingly *everywhere* that I have thought about renewing my tetanus vaccination....

Cool.  Mine are pine as well.  They're a little soft, so they're susceptible to scratches and dings, but that looks great in an old house.  Try taking a pad sander to a test area and then hit that with some polyurethane before you make a final decision on replacement.  It could save you some cash and help your structure retain a lot of its original character.

1875 Pine floors before and after refinishing. The small unfinished section is in my utility closet. These are my favorite floors in the house.

^Those floors look great.  I like how all of the boards are different widths.

No pics, sorry.  They are plain-sawn pine with a good amount of water damage and enough nails seemingly *everywhere* that I have thought about renewing my tetanus vaccination....

 

I have pulled thousands of nails from old cincinnati floors in just one room. Long nails that then let pinspots of light from the room below shine up through.  These floors sanded well, despite being badly cupped.  I just did my first two passes with a drum sander on the diagonal in opposite directions each time, and then transitioned to sanding with the grain to finish up.  Moisture from having an occupied structure and the polyurethane sealed the nail holes nicely. 

 

In some areas I had to weave in wood i took from another "donor" room that was to be ceramic tiled anyway.

 

Do not underestimate how much water staining will come out, although water damage is another thing altogether.  Pet urine is the worst.  Blood stains just simply need to be cut out.  Don't ask, just trust me.

 

Also, previous patch jobs may come out looking pretty cool.  Just look how awesome the tile floor is at The Metropole restaurant.  The missing parts make that floor even more interesting then if it were completely intact.

 

At any rate, be deliberate with the job you do on your floors.  Proper sanding and even thin coats of poly that has been sanded between coats will give you a long lasting result.  I have floors I did nearly 30 years ago.  They look brand new!  One time I tried to cheat the system, and laid the poly too thick and in another area didnt sand well enough between.  Both floors were complete trash within 5 years.

 

Thanks for letting us in on your project.  Good luck.

Permits have been issued and we should beginning real work in earnest soon.  Exciting times!

And work has officially begun!  Construction kick-off meeting this morning with the builder and the architect (UO's own jjakucyk). 

It's funny that I have now gone from "take it slow, ease into it" to "get this done, I'm on the clock paying!" so quickly. 

Make sure you share regular updates with us.  It's always good to see buildings being brought back to life and for a history of poor design choices remedied.

I place any poor design choices on this at the feet of jjakucyk!  ;)

Haha, based on what we've seen from him and from the HBC presentation it seems you are in good hands and this will be a great project when finished.

No compliments.  He will just charge me more. 

For the first time in decades, I am assuming, the garage door opening is once again an opening. 

 

 

They have started demo'ing a back corner that was added at one point, but needs to essentially be rebuilt.  And the main stairway (which is also being rebuilt) has already been removed.  Exciting to see stuff happening. 

 

 

Here's the corner.

JDM, There actually seems to be a nice view hidden behind the tangle of vegetation and trees. Will there be a window there or some means of admitting natural light? I assume the rehab plans have been drawn and approved so now I would think your goal is to have things finished out before the end of summer. The (2 foot thick?) brick walls look solid and ready for another century of service. Good luck with the project.

John --

 

Plans all drawn and approved.  This is just a corner of the project--there are windows all along the south facing side with pretty good views.  Need to trim the tree.

 

It's probably going to be fall before it's all done, unfortunately--it's a lot of work.  But it's great to see it started. 

Here's a few construction shots from last week with many of the new masonry openings being cut in.