Where is Cincinnati's best "single family" architecture?

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by Cincy Rider

Paul, what kind of house is THAT? Just awesome. Is that a variation of a Queen Anne?

I've been around the area on Knox, Tremont, and Blaine but I couldn't find Knox Hills for anything. My first house was an 1875 Italiente on Queen City in South Fairmount. I wish I still had it.

The front part of the house appears to be Queen Anne, but the rest of house is something different ... Or added later?

[restorationconsultant]

Cincy Rider. That particular house started life out as a small cottage circa 1860-1865 What you are looking at is actually the back of the house. From the Knox street side it is a 3 story towered mansion that literally is Built up the hill.

The house had a major expansion circa 1890 and the rather elaborate side veranda you see was actually salvaged from the famed "Schuetzen
Verein" which was an exclusive German Social and gun Club with a large beer garden that tragically burned in 1888. Today the site is St Clair Park a 19 acres nature preserve that is on the eastern end of our neighborhood. The "schuetzen verein" started out life as a Baptist seminary built in the high gothic style in 1850 and expanded and enlarged by the social club.

Some of the oldest houses in Fairmount and Cincinnati are in this neighborhood. The older Pre civil war house we believe may date to the 1830-40's. Most of the houses in our neighborhood were origianlly built by wealthy members of the German Community as 'weekend' or "summer" cottages between 1860-1880. After the country club burned those cottages were sold off and purchased by German Businessmen and Merchants and enlarged, and the area remained a tight knit German enclave well into the 1950's. In addition to the cottages, several huge mansions were built in the area in the 1890's. We are working on the national registry nomination for the area.

Our neighborhood boundaries are Knox and Fairmount between Beekman and Harrison and the cross streets of Blain ,Thompson, Scully and Saturn. Our neighborhood overlaps the N&S Fairmount neighborhoods. It is one of those little "pocket neighborhoods" that you would never expect to find. The area is extremly rural in nature but minutes to downtown, because it is up in the hills and off the main roads its very quiet.

Not to say we do not have some work to do on our neighborhood . There
are alot of the smaller cottages that need restoration, but the prices are dirt cheap on the unrestored houses. You can still buy a restorable house on in our area for 5-15K. "Livable' fixers are 15-30K. With more people coming in it wont be that way for long. Right now there is about 2 mill in restorations going on. I think once more people start working on the outside phase of their restorations this summer people will really take note of the area. Of course the national registry nomination will definitely help.

For all the "changes" the nieghborhood has been through there are still quite a few people whose family have been in the same house for 4 generations. My house, the "pumpkin colored" Second Empire cottage was built in 1871 and in the same family ownership from 1885-2007 although it was really run down when I bought it and we still have along way to go restoring it, but then we only paid 4000.00 (not a typo) for it.

Neighborhood website: Welcome to : (KnoxHillNeighborhoodAssoc)

[Sarah Perry]

Thanks; I know the Clifton area well. Something about the size and proportions of the College Hill house just appeals to me. I think the aesthetics are better than some of the much larger, grander Tudors.

[Cincy Rider]

Originally Posted by Restoration Consultant

Our neighborhood boundaries are Knox and Fairmount between Beekman and Harrison and the cross streets of Blain ,Thompson, Scully and Saturn. Our neighborhood overlaps the N&S Fairmount neighborhoods. It is one of those little "pocket neighborhoods" that you would never expect to find. The area is extremly rural in nature but minutes to downtown, because it is up in the hills and off the main roads its very quiet.

I've been up and down Knox and Fairmount between Beekman and Harrison and the cross streets of Blain ,Thompson, Scully and Saturn.
...and Vinton, Waverly, Iroquois, Seegar....

I can't find the Pumpkin Second Empire.

Not stalking your house, just wanted to see the restorations.

[restorationconsultant]

Cincyrider

Sent you a private with the address. Our house has a tall retaining wall and sits at the back of our lot so you can fly by and completely miss it espcially if you are headed east on the street.

Second Empire Architecture is probably the most prized style of Victorian Architecture. Cincinnati has perhaps the largest intact collection of Second Empire architecture but people locally do not give it a second glance. Whats really amazing about these little cottages is the interiors can be very high style.

We could not figure out why the paint on our walls were 'crackled' and I originally planned on wallpaper so I needed a viable smooth surface. So..... we carefully removed layer and layer of paint to discover SURPRISE.. the original 1870's neo grec stancilling on the walls. They had shellaced the milk paint. Unfortunately we couldnt save it and the color was wrong for us, so I carefully re-created the original stencils and I am in the process of repainting the formal parlor using the original designs in a different colorway. We added back a new ceiling medallion which I custom painted, and I have a elctrofied gasolier to go up once the ceiling is complete.

Now I know this is way too "over the top" for most people who read city-data and used to HGTV suburban interiors, but if you have ton of victorian antiques you want the parlor to be period. BUT, lots and lots of work to do before this room is finished.

Our house is a looong way from done, but if we had not bought it I guarantee it would have been bulldozed by now.

[Cincy Rider]

Hi, I got your message and replied. I regularly follow the progress you're making on the house, the neighborhood, and the city on your Blog.

I feel I have to put this out there.

What you are doing, from historical restoration to shining a light on this city's backward and self-sabatoging mentality of blight=bulldozer is nothing short of amazing and courageous.

I strongly believe your passion and expertise and leadership is having a groundswell effect and is, and is going to be, a key element towards saving the city's seriously endangered historical architecture.

By the way, good luck and give 'em hell over in Indian Hill today on behalf of the Gamble House. I wish I could've been able to attend the rally.