2333 Kemper Lane, Walnut Hills
Multi-family
DOB: 1885
Died: September 2008
Cause of death: A three-alarm fire on April 8, 2007 causing significant damage to the first-floor rear of the building and spreading to the second floor and attic. Damage was estimated at $200,000, and three people were left homeless.
The management company that owned the building was seeking bids to rebuild or demolish the fire damaged portions of the structure. Later, the owners alerted the City that they had no money to barricade the open windows on the ground floor, which is no surprise given the building's history of code violations. A pre-prosecution hearing resulted in a 30-day extension, but no work, plan, or Vacant Building Maintenance License.
The building was foreclosed in October 2007 and purchased by a man from Texas in December 2007. The house is being hand wrecked by the owner, and parts of it are being salvaged.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wrecking Cincinnati, 9/30/08
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Recent Comments
10 comments:
What about insurance? Don't you have to have it as a property owner?
they don't build 'em like that anymore :(
What a shame. As for the insurance, it is only a requirement of banks if you have a mortgage, and maybe it was self-financed or just under-insured.
Total shame on that one.
Usually the houses are pretty bland and boring in the wrecking section but this one is a heart breaker. Such a beautiful building in such a run down area. Very sad indeed.
The Hamilton County Auditors picture came up really big and you could see lots of the details that do not show in this smaller version... including the window air conditioning unit that was put into a hole cut into the ornate exterior wall in the third floor tower. Also a number of discreet stone carvings throughout the house. Shame, shame, shame, is right.
How was a once beautiful street like that allowed to become such an irreversible mess. And it has happened to so many in this city. Why aren't there stricter guidelines for what a property owner can tear down/build/butcher. There are areas where too much freedom is a bad thing.
If you didn't build the house you own your only right and obligation should be to maintain it properly.
It is only fitting that someone from another state saw what was worth salvaging in this house other than the easily removed "decorations". I did not see the damage to this house but reading that the back suffered the most, I would not be surprised if it was a wood frame add-on as was common way back when which was later part of the converted apartments raising the cost of fixing it - meaning the main house could possibly have been in repairable shape(?).
For this poor house it was too late anyway. Who would want to put all the effort/time/money into a house on a street that has become like that one.
Wake up City government and change your practices if it is not already too late. You need a department of Planning and Aesthetics or some entity that would prevent this kind of backward "growth".
As the owner of the house, I can say that the cost of repairing the damage to the the house was estimated at over $ 650,000, while insurance only covered $ 350,000 based on its appraised value of $ 430,000. So repairing the damage was not an option.
I bought the house out of foreclosure in 2005, and spent two years and $ 120,000 renovating it. It was a marvelous property and we had virtually completed it when the arson fire occurred.
However, the basic shell of the house was in good shape, and, as a true Queen Anne Victorian, it had a lot of architectural appeal so I searched for a buyer that would preserve it and rebuild it in a setting where its true value would be a real asset to its owner and community.
The disassembly process has been very careful. Because the stone in the house was laid in a random "Ashlar" pattern, each stone has been numbered so that the house can be put back together. Everything has been measured, photographed, and documented. We estimate that the job will be completed in mid December.
Then .. a Prime half acre building lot zoned OL (office light or multifamily) at the crest of Walnut Hills will be available for redevelopment.
^ Thanks for the details!
Is it my understanding that the building materials are being shipped off to Texas to rebuild?
This house was once owned by Braxton Campbell, the largest saddle and harness manufacturer in the world.
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/descendants/chap45.htm
^ Interesting. Great find!
Post a Comment