Garth Bishop
A distinctive chimney and decorative letter "S" demonstrate the historic nature of the Brand Road home of Tony and Mardi Ciriaco.
The City of Dublin and its residents pride themselves on the community’s connections to the past, from its public art to the names of its schools.
But some residents have much more direct lines to Dublin history – they live smack in the middle of it.
There are 114 Dublin properties on the Ohio Historic Inventory, of which 96 are residences. Forty-one of the 114 are on the National Historic Registry.
The area with the highest concentration of historic properties? Historic Dublin, of course. There are 27 on High Street alone and, while a number of them are now businesses, there are still plenty of residences.
One such house is owned by Julie Seel, a teacher at Glacier Ridge Elementary School. She bought the house in 2011 and, after extensive restoration, finally moved in this past December.
The house is known as the Giles Weaver Residence, named for the village tanner who built it in 1835. It was later owned by village druggist William Davis, but had been unoccupied for five years prior to Seel’s buying it and fixing it up – with some help from friends and her children, Jack and Olivia.
“We’ve really tried to retain and respect the history of the property in the work that we’ve done,” Seel says.
Seel and her team restored the original beams in the ceilings – “They’re literally tree trunks,” she says – as well as the original fireplaces and wood floors. She even held onto some artifacts discovered in the walls.
“We found old newspapers dating back to 1914, we found a Victorian lady’s glove and shoes, we found whiskey bottles that were actually prescription whiskey, we found a couple of old bonnets … that ladies used to wear in the mid-1800s,” she says.
Seel and her late husband, Vaughan, came from England and had owned several historic homes in the past. They both loved Dublin, as well, and when, in 2007, they saw the opportunity to live in a historic Dublin home, they fell in love with the idea.
In addition to being part of history, Seel appreciates being part of Historic Dublin and being close to so many of the great restaurants and other businesses the City has to offer.
“There’s a very neighborhood-feel in old Dublin,” she says. “Everyone really does appreciate their properties, the business owners and the residents.”
Making improvements to a historic property can necessitate jumping through a lot of hoops, but the City made things easy for Seel, she says, working with her architect, Tom Samms, every step of the way.
Along with Weaver and Davis, another recognizable name from Dublin’s past is Cramer. The Cramer family is the namesake for Cramer Run, Cramer Creek Office Park and the Cramer’s Crossing neighborhood.
Right on Cramer Run is a house that once belonged to the Cramer family. Now, however, it is owned by Nelson and Betsy Yoder. The Yoders, who have two young daughters, bought the sizable brick house on Rings Road a few months ago.
Nelson and Betsy are both architects, so they were intrigued by the house, which was built in 1835 and received a major addition in 1855.
“We both share a fascination with old architecture,” Nelson says.
The Yoders have lived in Lewis Center and Upper Arlington for the past 10 years, but Nelson grew up in Dublin and was enthusiastic about moving back. In fact, he was raised on a three-acre lot that shares a property line with his new (old) house on Rings.
Traces of the house’s past are visible everywhere, Nelson says. For instance, the water to the house is still served by a stone-lined cistern, and it’s easily apparent where doors were added. The property contains a bridge built over Cramer Run and, though they have been removed, Nelson’s parents have told him outhouses were positioned on the bridge when they bought the adjacent house.
“It looks like (the previous owners) added a door … in close proximity to where those are,” Nelson says.
He mentions the parks, the bike paths, Historic Dublin, the Dublin Irish Festival and the Dublin City School District as just some of the reasons for the City’s appeal.
“Dublin, as a community, has really got it right, and they’ve done it right in terms of all their amenities,” Nelson says. “It’s a great community to live in, and I know firsthand, because I spent many years here when I was growing up.”
While the Yoders’ living situation is rooted in the past, Nelson’s working situation is focused on the future – he’s principal of the Development Partners Division of Crawford Hoying, which is working on a major development project in the City’s Bridge Street District.
Not every historic home in Dublin began life as a home. Three of them were once one-room schoolhouses in the Washington Township school district, which became the Dublin school district: the Sandy District School, Cosgray District School and Mitchell District School.
Tony and Mardi Ciriaco have lived in the Mitchell house on Brand Road for 20 years. They lived in Dublin for 10 years prior to buying the house on four acres.
“Even though neither one of us grew up in older homes, we always really liked older homes,” Mardi says. “Our parents really thought we’d lost our minds to move from a brand-new home into this thing.”
The ori
ginal schoolhouse was built in 1879, though major additions have been made since. Prior to the Ciriacos, it was owned by Dr. Bruce Graham, a longtime employee of (now Nationwide) Children’s Hospital.
The schoolhouse portion of the property – recognizable for its distinctive chimney and the large “S” underneath it – is now a living room, and atop it is a one-time attic that has been repurposed into a bedroom.
Remnants of the one-time schoolhouse’s uses over the years include the original brick walls, which were once covered with plaster that was subsequently removed by Graham; the long piece of wood that held erasers prior to the removal of the chalkboard; and the fireplace that kept students warm in the winter.
Everyone who has owned the house has left their marks on it, and the Ciriacos are no exception. They tore out the kitchen floor to get down to the original wood, exposed brick walls in the den, refurbished some of the old wood elsewhere and made some necessary improvements to the area between older and newer parts of the house.
“Originally, two parts of the house were connected by a breezeway that had two separate doors,” Mardi says. “That breezeway was not heated,” which presented challenges during the winter.
The Ciriacos chose Dublin in 1993 thanks to its better home value options and the quality of the schools – both of their children, now grown, attended St. Brigid of Kildare School and Dublin Coffman High School.
Garth Bishop is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
