Monday, December 5, 2011

Condemned: The Best Frame Italianate House on Cleveland's East Side

The best frame Italianate house on the east side

Two weeks ago, I brought public attention again to this impressive historic home, built in 1874. The response was impressive. I first detailed this massive 3,500 square foot house back on November 9, 2009 (The best frame Italianate house I've seen in Cleveland). It's also covered in Hidden History of Cleveland (History Press, 2011), pages 119-120.

When I drove by today, I saw that the property had been condemned. This means that if the code violations named in the condemnation notice are not corrected by the date specified (December 25, 2011) the structure may be demolished to abate the nuisances specified in the condemnation notice. I've reproduced the notice in full below. The code violations themselves are on pages 3 and 4.

Condemnation notice, 6512 Superior Avenue, page 1

Condemnation notice, 6512 Superior Avenue, page 2

Condemnation notice, 6512 Superior Avenue, page 3

Condemnation notice, 6512 Superior Avenue, page 4

Condemnation notice, 6512 Superior Avenue, page 5

The question at this point is whether housing court is able to reach the owner and take action there, perhaps transferring the house either to a third party or the county land bank before the city moves forward to demolish it.

10 comments:

  1. Do you know the owner? Have you been in contact with them? Do they know about this and have they expressed any interest in either fixing this house or selling it?

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  2. I do not know the owner. To the best of my understanding, none of the parties presently attempting to contact the owner have been able to do so.

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  3. Looks like a great foundation; with a name like this owner's, he's invisible in plain sight. What intervention resources do we have these days? CRS? Preservationists? Architects? I'll drive by; don't go by there very often.

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  4. Isn't there something called the Cleveland Restoration Society? What is their role in saving houses like this? Even a casual glance says that it is worth saving. It seems sort of unfair and onerous that the entire burden falls upon your efforts.

    I'm sure the city would rather cater to builders who bulldoze whole blocks in the name of reclamation, but there should be some lobbying for the city to create a mechanism (of review at least) special for historic structures.
    --Road to Parnassus

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  5. i would have bought this house three years ago if i had money. please let me know what is being done and how i can help

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  6. A visit to the county registry of deeds will answer the question. Perhaps the owner has died leaving no heirs? or it is locked in a family dispute? Regardless, it must not be demolished!- and hopefully funds can be found for its refurbishment. It is truly beautiful.

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  7. And all these violations are to be corrected in one month's time? It's almost as if the city wants to demolish this house. What a shame.

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  8. Greetings all.
    Because there was interest in this thread about finding out what the Cleveland Restoration Society has been doing to try and help save this building, I wanted to update Cleveland Area History's readers about our current activities.
    We have notified the Cleveland Municipal Housing Court that we are interested in helping to save this property and would consider a receivership action with the approval of our Board of Trustees. We have also called Councilman T. J. Dow, the local development corporation, and the head of Building and Housing, to seek assistance in saving this structure.
    We will be keeping the public informed of our progress through our periodic, free e-newsletter. My apologies that I do not have additional information to share at the moment; but be sure that we are actively endeavoring to help keep this building a tangible part of Cleveland's built heritage.
    Thank you.

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  9. It's a beautiful house. I pass it quite often. Wonder if the neighborhood is the reason the owners abandoned it.

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