Sayler Park
The westernmost neighborhood of Cincinnati, Sayler Park adjoins the north bank of the Ohio River and calls itself “Cincinnati’s Western Gateway.” Prices $25,000 to $180,000.
Covedale Garden District
Established in the 1830s, the neighborhood is primarily residential with tree-lined streets; most businesses are located on or near bustling Glenway Avenue. Prices $80,000 to $130,000.
Westwood Town Hall Area
Westwood’s housing history includes wealthy industrialists, including Proctor & Gamble founder James Gamble. Styles include Victorian Vernacular, Arts and Crafts, Colonial Tudor revivals, bungalows and foursquares. Prices $20,000 to $180,000.
Price Hill Cedar Grove
Formerly orchard land, the historic Cedar Grove neighborhood in Price Hill began residential development in 1883; its proximity to downtown attracted wealthy residents. Prices $3,000 to $150,000.
Price Hill Incline District
The Price Hill Incline, the first in Cincinnati, opened in 1874 and enabled Price Hill to become a thriving neighborhood known for its first and second generation Irish and German Catholic immigrants. Prices $20,000 to $200,000.
Ludlow
Ludlow offers residents friendly and quaint neighborhood communities within convenient distance to the thriving entertainment districts in downtown Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport. Prices $15,000 to $130,000.
Dayton Street Historic District
Nicknamed “Millionaire’s Row,” many of the homes in this neighborhood were built by the owners of Cincinnati’s beer breweries and pork packers from 1800 to 1890. Prices $10,000 to $165,000.
Clifton Gaslight
Famous for its working gas street lamps, this eclectic walking neighborhood features tree-lined streets and a wealth of independent restaurants, boutiques, and essential businesses at its hub on Ludlow Avenue. Prices $120,000 to $750,000.
Northside
Progressive urban living is Northside’s hallmark, with such highlights as an urban garden co-op, a volunteer bicycle co-op, and the Northside Farmers Market. Prices $20,000 to $275,000.
College Hill
College Hill prides itself on the diversity of its citizens and residential architecture. The broad, tree-lined streets of College Hill give the neighborhood a stately air. Prices $15,000 to $280,000.
Glendale
The original layout of lots, streets, and parks follows the landscape instead of a rigid geometrical grid; Glendale is recognized as the first subdivision in the United States to be laid out according to topography. Prices $40,000 to $650,000.
Wyoming
Known for its excellent school system and dedication to urban forestry, Wyoming is a city strongly dedicated to preserving its historical heritage. Prices $65,000 to $950,000.
Paddock Hills
Located north of downtown and west of Norwood, Paddock Hills is characterized by cul-de-sac streets, stands of poplars and pin oaks, and a mix of historic and Modern architecture. Prices $60,000 to $190,000.
Norwood Presidential District
The Norwood Presidential District features many excellent Victorian Vernacular houses, with a small collection of elaborate Queen Anne Victorian as well. Also to be found are Arts and Crafts bungalows and foursquares. Prices $60,000 to $260,000.
Milford
Milford is known for its dedication to preserving Milford history, including the downtown Promont House museum (former home of Ohio Governor John Pattison). Prices $100,000 to $240,000.
Hyde Park
Incorporated in 1896 by businessmen who wanted to create a community exclusively for the wealthy, Hyde Park has kept its upper-class and meticulously well maintained image since its inception. Prices $135,000 to $1,400,000.
Mt. Lookout
Known for its lively business and entertainment district, the bustle of the trendy restaurants, bars, and shopsare a short walk from the neighborhood’s tree-lined, affluent residential streets. Prices $100,000 to $600,000.
Columbia Tusculum
Declared a City Historic District in 1989, Columbia Tusculum traces its inception to the 1788 Benjamin Stites settlement Columbia, which predates Losantiville (Cincinnati’s original name). Prices $20,000 to $300,000.
Fort Thomas
Fort Thomas has been noted for the intensive renovation of its downtown and Midway business districts, including much new streetscaping. Prices $60,000 to $1,250,000.
Bellevue
Known for its public parks and historic Fairfield Avenue, which fields a rich mix of boutique and essential businesses. Historic preservation is a strong focus of the city’s government, businesses, and residents. Prices $20,000 to $350,000.
Newport Mansion Hill/East Row
The historic homes in Mansion Hill have the benefit of being within walking distance of Newport’s revitalized arts and entertainment districts, as well as Covington and downtown Cincinnati. Prices $50,000 to $400,000.
Wallace Woods
Among neighborhood associations in Covington, the Wallace Woods Neighborhood Association is particularly active and progressive in engineering pedestrian safety and green space. Prices $30,000 to $250,000.
Central Covington
Central Covington is dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of historic homes, including the recent decades of renovation of Italianate Victorian houses in Old Seminary Square. Prices $5,000 to $120,000.
North Covington
Neighborhoods in North Covington are noted equally for their extravagant historic architecture and upscale modern entertainment and dining. Prices $5,000 to $550,000.
Prospect Hill
One of Cincinnati’s oldest neighborhoods, Prospect Park is characterized by historic brick homes, stone retaining walls, and preserved iron fences. Prices $60,000 to $300,000.
Walnut Hills/Eden Park
Historic architecture styles include Richardsonian Romanesque, Second Empire, Italianate, and Queen Anne Victorian homes, typically constructed between 1880 and 1920. Prices $130,000 to $300,000.
East Walnut Hills
Historic homes in East Walnut Hills are known for their multi-acre plots of land and unusual depth from the property line at the houses’ faces. Prices $100,000 to $1,300,000.
North Avondale
Some of the finest examples of residential Queen Anne Victorian, Italian Renaissance, English Medieval, and Greek Revival architecture in Cinncinnati. Prices $100,000 to $900,000.
Incorporated as a village in 1810, notable attractions in Lebanon include The Golden Lamb (a hotel and restaurant operating since 1803), The Western Star (home of one of Ohio’s oldest weekly newspapers), the Warren County Historical Society, and the Harmon Museum of Art and History. Prices range from $100,000 to $350,000.
Camp Washington Restoration: Exploring the 3 Rs
in Historic Restoration/by Karen Garrard3071 Sidney Avenue as it looked in May 2019
This is the 8th post documenting Lead Agent Adam Sanregret’s home restoration project: 3071 Sidney Avenue in Cincinnati’s historic Camp Washington. As for Adam’s timeline, it’s quite good. He started his whole house project in May 2019 and he’s quickly wrapping things up. You can consider this post an intermission with the grand finale on the way…
Like Adam, if you are considering an entire re-do of a historic house, the approach you take will impact the home’s finished character, total cost, and how long it is going to take you.
So, what’s your approach? Are you going to restore, rehabilitate, or renovate your historic home?
Restoration
Today, when people say “restore”, most often they mean rehabilitate. Restore is also the word frequently heard when people talk about any old house project. It’s a blanket term. Despite this, the word has a very specific meaning:
By this definition, when you restore an old house, it means you returned its interior and exterior appearance to a particular date or period. In practice, this usually translates to the time when the house was built.
If you think about it, whole house restorations aren’t very common. Not only does the restoration remove additions or changes that are part of the home’s history, but it can also preclude modern inventions and conveniences—like electricity, modern plumbing and heating, and even dishwashers and air conditioning!
If you didn’t open it needlessly, an ice box could keep food at near-freezing temperature from a couple of hours to several days as the ice slowly melts
For today’s historic homes, a whole house restoration—according to the strict definition of the word—is a bit impractical. Would you install knob and tube wiring in your home? Or, how about having both gas and electric running out of the same light fixture? You could still sit and enjoy your porch—while the ice in your icebox slowly melts.
Most restoration is limited to the details of a historic home. Here are some examples:
Rehabilitate
When you rehabilitate an old house, you give it modern functionality yet still preserve important historic and architectural features. In a rehabilitated home, you will find modern electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems, as well as a modern kitchen, and other things typical of the present-day. Examples include:
Just an example of double pane replacement windows
Similar to the way that “restore” is used about any type of old house project, the word rehabilitate has a connotation. Think of a whole house rehab and you likely associate it with a “gut job”—when nearly all historic character is gone and everything is modern coated with a historic shell. Thus, we have the concept “new, old house”.
Renovate
Renovation is the opposite of restoration. It looks towards the future, not the past. In old house terms, to renovate means “to make new or improve”. A renovation removes outdated building components or features and puts in new, modern ones. Examples of renovation include:
Which of the 3 Rs is Adam Doing?
Any historic home improvement project can incorporate more than one concept. You can install new plumbing in your bathroom (rehabilitation), as well as a salvaged clawfoot tub that enhances your home’s Victorian style and character (restoration).
Partial demolition at 3071 Sidney Avenue
When Adam bought the nearly 2700-square-foot Second Empire home at 3071 Sidney Avenue, the interior was already partially demolished. It had no intact kitchen, bathrooms, utilities, and no insulation.
The home was built in 1885 with no interior plumbing. So, from the get-go, a full restoration back to that period was not part of Adam’s plans.
During the 1920s, the exterior was clad with asbestos-cement tiles and the front porch was heavily altered. It was during this time that plumbing was added, along with some floorplan changes to accommodate bathrooms.
Adam’s overall plan was to turn what was originally a multi-generational home into a single-family home. This required a few floorplan changes. Because this is a new use for the home, it squarely fits with the definition of “renovation”. In contrast, however, Adam’s new electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems fall under the category of “rehab”.
To retain as much original character as possible, Adam paid particular attention to the following historic features:
Restored original floors and staircase
The work that Adam has done to date with the majority of these features does fit the definition of restoration. His goal was to take these elements back to the period when the home was built. One exception was the windows on the upper floors. Due to water damage and rot, he decided that the best thing to do was to replace them with new ones (renovate). Click here for a blog post to learn all about the ins and outs of historic windows.
What approach is best for your historic home?
When deciding whether you should restore, rehabilitate, or renovate your historic home, there is no right or wrong answer. Understanding the history and present condition of your home, as well as your lifestyle needs, will ultimately determine your course of action.
Stay tuned!
We hope you are enjoying Adam’s restoration journey! Here’s a link to our first post about the project if you’ve missed any. Adam is currently living in the home and busy finishing up the last touches. Stay tuned for the big reveal!
Up next:
A Camp Washington Restoration: Welcome Home!