Hyde Park Questions (Columbus, Cincinnati, Avon: salons, real estate, apartments)

[maplelady]

Rookwood Place in Hyde park is very nice. What do these piles go for ? is this an area where houses are handed down through generations and rarely go on the market ?

Hyde park is incorporated and not in Cincy prpoer, correct ?

Is Keys Cresent in Hyde park or the city ? Here seems to be a large are with no name around Scarborough Woods. On keys, south side is one of those houses woth the round turrets which I cannot categorize architecturally. Looks like some new infill mcmansion closer to the river. But really, the old houses we love today would have at one time been McMansions.

I still love the houses in North Avondale and Roselawn and I would buy there just because after reading all the memories posters have , I would want to help bring back the area.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by maplelady

Hyde park is incorporated and not in Cincy prpoer, correct ?

Nope, Hyde Park is a cincinnati neighborhood, not separately incorporated. It keeps its place in the Cincinnati echilon due to the high cost of property there.

[motorman]

Keys Crescent is in East Walnut Hills (within Cincinnati and bordering Hyde Park on the near side of downtown). Both East Walnut Hills and Hyde Park are two of Cincinnati's premier, blue-blooded neigborhoods. (You don't just move into either one; instead you must be "invited.")

[deg1114]

Originally Posted by maplelady

Rookwood Place in Hyde park is very nice. What do these piles go for ? is this an area where houses are handed down through generations and rarely go on the market ?

Rookwood Place and Grandin Road have amazing homes. I don't know if they stay in the family though. I see quite a few go on the market from time to time.

Is Keys Cresent in Hyde park or the city ? Here seems to be a large are with no name around Scarborough Woods. On keys, south side is one of those houses woth the round turrets which I cannot categorize architecturally. Looks like some new infill mcmansion closer to the river. But really, the old houses we love today would have at one time been McMansions.

East Walnut Hills definitely has its share of beautiful homes as well. The homes with the turrets could very well be a Richardsonian Romanesque style home. Here is a great reference of the styles of homes that can be found around Cincinnati:

Major Architectural Styles - City Planning & Buildings

What you probably cannot see by looking at Google maps or Streetview is that Keys Crescent is up on a hill and the homes on the southern end of the street have amazing views of the Ohio River.

[maplelady]

Thanks Deg114,

Yes, I can tell Keys Crescent up on a hill. It is funny but if I go over water on Street View, I get nervous !

I will find some of the houses I am talking about. Think I first saw then up in North Avondale area.

Why were mock tudors so popular in Ohio ? I mean they proliferate in plats from last century to the 1980's.

I love the big old Greek revivals with the third story windows... seem to be common in Cincy...I call them Civil War houses, the era is about right. There are a couple on Reading Road that still look solid and proud like Jimmy Stewart in Shanandoh.( sp)

[goyguy]

The age of passing homes down within a family is largely if not entirely gone. So is the need for sprawling mansions with living space for a dozen children and "household staff." But a good address in Cincinnati 120 years ago is quite often still a good address today. So there are plenty of social-climbing types with the means who eagerly buy these grandiose dwellings. The excess bedrooms become studies, home offices, guest suites, and so on.
Hyde Park is indeed within the city limits, but as a rule the residents gloss over that fact in the same way that few of them willingly send their offspring to the "district" high school (Withrow.) If it weren't for a non-diversified tax base I suspect the locals would've campaigned successfully to secede a long time ago. They don't call it "Snide Park" for nothing.
About the only "bringing back" either North Avondale or Roselawn need is in the way of commercial life. The main streets through those communities (and Bond Hill, which lies between them) had their hearts ripped out a long time ago, starting with the unrest during the late 1960's. Where there aren't vacant lots, or parks, and empty storefronts you can largely only find run-of-the-mill "ghetto" businesses. By that I mean dollar stores, hair/nail salons, fast food joints, sketchy bars, payday lenders, and convenience markets. The neighborhood schools are in vast need of improvement to be sure. But that factor doesn't prevent other city communities from maintaining their appeal and their retail + dining options.
One of the North Avondale mansions I covet is at 3886 Reading Rd. It was built for the Herschede family, which made its fortune by selling jewelry. Their stores downtown and in upscale communities and shopping centers were once a "local institution" but didn't see the end of the 1980's. It's anyone's guess how long it's been since any Herschede dwelt in that fifteen-room stone masterpiece, or anybody for that matter. Every few years another attempt is made to sell it. The realtor's photo gallery depicts a kitchen with a gas-jet stove, bathrooms with antiquated fixtures, etc. At least it hasn't met the fate of too many other similar abodes around there: partitioning into low-income apartments, sloppy adaptation for uses such as a nursing home, or demolition.

[maplelady]

Hi Goyguy,

I know you have great expertise in this area so want to ask you some things. Reading Road confounds me. I have been up and down it on street view 6 times. I will post tomorrow notes on my tour, but each time i went along I thought "This isn't so bad." There are some parts I love, like the Herschede House, and the old Adath temple( that gives me goose bumps.) I wonder if the congregation tried to keep it as say a museum of Jewish local history. i know there is a beautiful new one built in 1967, but really, a Babtist church it is not.

i understand about the race riots and the white flight...well OK i know the premise behind white flight but I really do not understand how whole communities were dupped by this criminal act. I am hoping that bright flight will continue. I do see some commerical development . How has the sugar and Spice lasted ? is that the original building and owner ? I often see people asking for help in choosing a home on this board. I too would want to buy in North Avondale, or Roselawn/ Bond Hill. the homes are amazing. it brought tears to my eyes reading the stories from people who grew up there in the 40's , 50's and 60's. It is clear these places were well loved. i think jane jacobs would say even though reading is very long and diverse, it is walkable in each neighborhood. I don't know about the tax structure in Cincy but it sems some areas get much more for thier dollars.

One thing i really noticed was a lack of grafitti. That is amazing. What are the origins of the small stone pillars i see randomly along the street. In Columbus many of the older places have stone entry markers.

[Ohio123]

Originally Posted by goyguy

One of the North Avondale mansions I covet is at 3886 Reading Rd. It was built for the Herschede family, which made its fortune by selling jewelry. Their stores downtown and in upscale communities and shopping centers were once a "local institution" but didn't see the end of the 1980's. It's anyone's guess how long it's been since any Herschede dwelt in that fifteen-room stone masterpiece, or anybody for that matter. Every few years another attempt is made to sell it. The realtor's photo gallery depicts a kitchen with a gas-jet stove, bathrooms with antiquated fixtures, etc. At least it hasn't met the fate of too many other similar abodes around there: partitioning into low-income apartments, sloppy adaptation for uses such as a nursing home, or demolition.

I looked at the pics on the real estate websites and it looks like it had a mostly paved over backyard with a bunch of garages. Was it really never used as some type of group home/apartments? I'm just wondering since there was so much parking.

[maplelady]

I just saw an old episode of Property Virgins from Hyde park... two brothers looking for a house near the square. They grew up there. They wanted to pay 200 K maybe. They refused Oakley. I also looked at streets just north and west of the square today and they were not great. sandra also had a young comedian looking in Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights but I think he bought near his parents looked like maybe Avondale or Golf Manor.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by maplelady

I just saw an old episode of Property Virgins from Hyde park... two brothers looking for a house near the square. They grew up there. They wanted to pay 200 K maybe. They refused Oakley.

Those guys were jerks.