17 April 2008

Brick House Example

Last week I had a post about stone and brick buildings. I was saying that they can be fixed-up for a reasonable price. Some readers may have been skeptical. Well, it just so happened that this past weekend, I attended a celebration of completion of such a project.

I know the owner of this building, and consider him a friend. He is a very intelligent and very hard working family man. He had been looking for a vacant building to rehab for a few years, and finally found this one. He did some research, contacted the owners and purchased it. It had been used as a storage building by Southern Ohio Glass Co. for several decades. During that time, it did not have any heat or electricity, and the roof and windows were leaking. So the building was in pretty rough shape, and it was completely full of junk.

My friend's budget was quite low, so he put lots of sweat equity into the rehab. There were many delays and unexpected costs in the permitting and construction process. However in the end, he got a 3,000 square foot, 4-story brick home with a small backyard for under a very reasonable cost. I don't know the exact expenses, and maybe he doesn't either, but I am sure purchase and rehab combined was half or less of a new suburban house. And the interior is very modern and clean. It turned out very nice.

Some before photos:

Front entry stairs during demolition and clean up phase:
 


Attic before:
 


Exterior before:
 


Finished Exterior:
 

I didn't take any interior photos, because it was packed with people, and it is a private residence after all.

However, he is one of the first people in this block to rehab. From Republic Street you can see the rear of 1511, 1515, and 1517 Vine Street. They are in pretty rough shape. I have been watching the one in the middle and lately some of the rear brick wall has collapsed:
 


[Where: 1510 Republic Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202]

6 comments:

Chris S said...

If you do ever get some pics of the interior, and what he has done with it, I would love to see them. This is EXACTLY the type of property I am looking for. And, since I have a house now, its also the type of property that I could put alot of sweat equity into to make it work.

If he doesn't mind, I would really like to see how he redid the interior.

Matt said...

wow, Republic Street... really great to see this!

liberal foodie said...

that's a fab makeover. Like Chris, I would like to see the interior too, to see the revival of the house. Good to know people out there are doing this stuff!

columbus exile said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CityKin said...

If anyone seriously wants to look at the place, email me and we can visit.

Jimmy_James said...

That's an amazing difference! I hope other owners follow suit on the rest of the street.