Historic Roudebush Farm…It Sure Has Some “Cute Buildings”
Criteria C of the National Register of Historic Places is defined as follows: “Embodies distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction“…in other words, “C is for cute buildings” (from the easy way to remember the 4 criteria–A is for “association”, B is for “Big People”, C is for “cute buildings”, and D is “for data [or dig, applied to archaeology mostly]). As such, the historic Roudebush Farm located at 8643 Kilby Road, Harrison Township, Ohio is a doozy for our area. And, yes, it is looking for a new steward (MLS# 1386447/list price $300,000)…
Listed on the National Register in 1976 (Ref #76001449), the centerpiece of the farm is a very well preserved farmhouse. The house is notable for its Italianate stone trim and ornate porches.
When it was added to the Register, the most significant part of the house was its completely intact formal parlor with carpeting, wallpaper, and furnishings dating to the 1870s and original to the house (the rug and most of the furniture are no longer there now).
Hammond Hersh Roudebush and his wife Emiline purchased the property, known as “Sand Hill”, in 1859, first building a one-story, two-room frame house with a cellar underneath as well as a barn, located to the east on the other side of Kilby (the barn is not part of the 7 acres that is currently for sale). A massive fireplace still sits in the cellar, in what was the original kitchen.
Shortly after the Civil War, the family donated a section of the lot at the corner of Kilby and Campbell roads to the local school board and a one room brick school was erected there. The building and land reverted back to the Roudebushes after it was no longer in use. The schoolhouse was converted to a tenant farmer’s residence and is now a nice, two-bedroom home.
In 1870, the brick section of the farmhouse was built.
Sometime after this section was built, the original one story section of the home was expanded to include several rooms on the second floor. The façade has five bays. All of the windows (also original) are round arch, double hung, two-over-tow-with stone Italianate trim around the top.
The main entrance has a semi-circular fanlight surrounded by stone trim and the door has two narrow windows with rounded tops. The porch, extending across the front, has a shingled mansard roof and is supported by carved wooden pillars and railing. The north and south ends of the house are divided into 3 bays with rounded arch windows. The roof is hipped and the cornice is decorated with paired brackets. The interior of the house has much of the original woodwork preserved.
Much more than cute, it’s simply gorgeous.
[ngg_images gallery_ids=”2″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails”]
