Kevin Marsh News

Clifton Home and Garden Tour 2024 – a Recap in Three Easy Walkabouts

Did you miss the perfect Mother’s Day event, when all locations were open for visitors? If so, we’ll break it down here for your casual strolling enjoyment. Parking opportunities are marked on the map with a P, with easy walkability in 3 groupings suggested for those who don’t want to go the full distance. You can enjoy a sidewalk view of all 10 locations while traversing our walkable, beautiful neighborhood! Credits to the official tour booklet’s writer Lindsay Wile and illustrator Sonja Thams.

South Grouping

429 Resor Avenue

Built approx. 1870; current homeowners Benjamin Schmidt and Danielle Nitti. Renovations: Second Empire style was conserved during a 2017 renovation by previous owners, which added new kitchen, baths, and opened the floor plan. History: Two important Clifton founders built, then inhabited this historic manor. The McAlpin family (1870s), followed by the Isaac Burnet Resor family until Mr. Resor’s death in 1909, when the home was transformed into rental and boarding before the next sale.

3345 Whitfield Avenue

Built in 1848 by Richard Smith/famed newspaperman, now the location of the Center for Mind, Body and Play. Restorations over 30 years by previous owners Tom and Linda Bender.

New transformations: Interior design Tara Ryan Busch of Boxwood Interiors, Bobby Bedinghaus and Chris Liedke of Bedinghaus Painting

587 Terrace Avenue

Built 2017-2018 by owner Dr. Michael Willing. Brad Roush/architect, Andrew James BuildersJill Koch/interior designer. LEED gold certification, Pool by Mid American (2022).

History: This property previously was the site of a modest 2-bedroom home (1954). Acquired in 2016, Dr. Willing sketched out his intentions for a new home, designed in harmony with a Sears home across the street.

North Grouping

8 Belsaw Place  

Built 1922; homeowners Guy and Kelly Banesse. Design: NOLI Kitchen (Agostino Fede design/build); Quince & Quinn (John Hinger interior design)

439 Wood Avenue  

uilt 1920 by Alfred S. Berghausen. A Craftsman bungalow. Current steward/renter Michael Friedes

403 Lafayette Avenue  

Built 1853; current homeowners Jess and Andrew Salzbrun. Renovations: All Around Joe, NOLI Kitchen, and Jess Salzbrun. History: The Neave/Sabin residence was home to the Alexander C. Neave family and his descendants from 1853 to 1925. The formal entryway pediment and columns were added to the façade in 1910. Dr. Albert Sabin and his family moved to Cincinnati in 1947 and chose this address as their home. Here, in his personal laboratory, Sabin would produce the world-famous Sabin polio vaccine.

517 Lafayette Avenue  

Built in 2011 by owners Bill Chappie and Scott Allgyer. Architect Ron Sabo and Justin Goldwire/Goldwire Gardens. Creative evolution over 13 years by Bill (the visionary) and Scott (the executor).

East Grouping

Clifton Cultural Arts Center – 3412 Clifton Avenue  

Built in 2024; Emersion Design/architecture and engineering; Skanska/construction management. History: CCAC’s new permanent home is set into the heart of Clifton, presenting a lively atmosphere of efficiency and inclusivity. Careful choice of materials and preservation of existing sightlines have made this 18,000-square-foot modern structure a well-integrated new gathering and performance space. A variety of classrooms and galleries welcome audiences, artists and educators. All is topped off with a green rooftop terrace where visitors enjoy an overview of Clifton’s lush trees and vintage rooftops.

2 East Interwood Place – The Pool and Marietta Gardens

Built 1925; homeowners Nora and Steve Fink. Pool Design: Christopher Lamond & Lamond Design and Mid American Pools

New Garden Plot at Vine and Glenmary Avenues

Built 2023; David Jackson/D2 Landscaping and Outdoor Service 

Kevin Marsh Events

2018 House Tour Reveal – Cox Home / Library

This reveal is the historical building on the 2018 Clifton House Tour.

George Barnesdale Cox. (1853-1916), nationally known for many years as the “Easy Boss of
Cincinnati,” controlled city politics for over 25 years. When in his early 40s, “Boss” Cox contracted the region’s most prominent architectural firm, Hannaford & Sons, to build a residence for for his status in the Clifton Gaslight District on a property opposite Burnet Woods Park. Samuel Hannaford had recently completed both City Hall and Music Hall and over his career designed more than 300 buildings in the Cincinnati area, including a store and apartment building on 7th Street for Cox. Cox lived in Parkview manor and entertained lavishly there from 1895 until his death from pneumonia at age 63 in 1916. His wife maintained the home until she died in 1938. It was bequeathed to the Union Bethel and became a home for girls until 1947 when it was purchased by Pi Kappa Alpha for a fraternity house. In 2007 Michael L. Dever purchased the property and then in 2010 donated it to the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to become what is now the Clifton Branch of the Library. Upon completion of extensive remodeling to upgrade the building and meet modern facility requirements it opened to the public on May 28, 2015.

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour. Buy your tickets in advance for $20 or on May 13 for $25.

Kevin Marsh Events

2018 House Tour Reveal – Alscher Hancock House

Our fifth reveal for the 2018 Clifton House Tour is the Alscher Hancock House built in 2013.

This imaginative exercise in residential infill integrates Twentieth Century Modernism with more recent contemporary architecture, while being distinct from, yet compatible with, the surrounding historically-inflected homes.

The basically box-like form of their residence is actually an “L” shape hat opens up an extra seven degrees. The roof appears deceptively flat but is also slightly angled toward the center in what is known as a “butterfly” form. The home is enlivened outside and in by intersecting shapes at narrow angles that provide deep overhangs above the front entry and rear deck, as well as oriel windows (hanging bays) that relieve the rectangular overall form. The theme of angularity continues with the double butterfly shape of the roof recalling Mid-Century Modern design, with its high sides dipping downward to a central valley that provides both interior drama and efficient drainage. For the home’s façades, a juxtaposition between materials is created; although its basic exterior surfaces have a smooth stucco finish, raised panels of concrete block masonry are openly treated as mere veneer in order to be structurally honest, since they are non-load- bearing yet establish a layered, textural contrast. Also, stone was selected to relate sensitively to the native stone found in the site and reused in the landscaping.

The Alscher Hancock House has achieved the highest level of LEED certification-
Platinum.

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour. Buy your tickets in advance for $20 or on May 13 for $25.

Kevin Marsh Events

2018 House Tour Reveal – Louis W. Kaiser House

Our fourth reveal for the 2018 Clifton House Tour is the Louis W. Kaiser House, built in 1909.

Evoking the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright’s early Prairie Style, this relatively modest home also represents the reaction against the excesses of Late Victorian Period Eclecticism. It was designed in 1909 for an officer of the once-prominent John Van Range Co. (a later rival of the Resor Stove Company). With emphasis on horizontal elements, the façade utilizes wide eaves that cross the first-floor front, the projecting porch, and even more deeply the main roof line. Used as roof supports at the front porch, bold masonry piers encase the entrance
and simplified wooden balusters. Plain square windows punctuate the bare walls.

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour. Buy your tickets in advance for $20 or on May 13 for $25.

Kevin Marsh Events

2018 House Tour Reveal – John G. Japp House

Our third reveal for the 2018 Clifton House Tour is the John G. Japp House, built in 1905.

This splendid example of the American Four-Square architectural form (the cubical
two-story equivalent of a one-story “bungalow’) is elaborated by subtle period
references, while retaining its overall Arts & Crafts character. Each façade is almost
symmetrical with the centers emphasized by dormers that share the gentle “rake” or
outward slope of the hipped red-tiled roofs. One of the earth-tone orange-brick
home’s distinguishing features is the use of alternating brick quoins to accentuate
the corners including those of the flat bays on the front and angled bays on the sides.
Also remarkable are the imposing chimneys which flair at their tops for emphasis.

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour. Buy your tickets in advance for $20 or on May 13 for $25.