Saturday, August 2, 2008

The worst house in Shaker Heights?

A rather impressive house
15901 Onaway has all the appearances of a stately Shaker Heights home. It sits on 3/4 of an acre lot, across the street from Shaker Heights High School. It's a 4900 square foot ranch / Cape Cod, built in 1951, with an addition to the rear added later. It has hot water heat and central air. It has a slate roof and wood siding, covered by vinyl.

Driveway and second garage
This is the addition, to the back, which includes some office space and a second two car garage. Due to the shape of the driveway and the edge of the lot, one must back into this garage, making it far more useful as a workshop space than for parking.

Neon numerals!
One of my favorite exterior elements are the numerals, made from neon. They appear to have been damaged and repaired at one point. While it is unclear as to whether they are original, they are definitely at least 35 years old.

Kitchen
Inside the house, the kitchen looks reasonably decent, if not quite the build quality that one would expect of a house in this neighborhood.

Living room
In the living room, however, the water damage becomes obvious.

Dining room
Other rooms didn't fare much better.

More water damage

Master bathroom
The master bathroom has this, um, wonderful tub. Or perhaps awful is the word I'm looking for.

Shuffleboard room
The second floor was in better condition. The largest roof featured a shuffleboard court and a wet bar. Yes, a shuffleboard court.

Wood-fired oven
On the back patio, which is has a nice balcony (perhps a a railing could be put around it on the second floor?) is this wood-fired grill.

Back yard and patio
The back yard is spacious, although the landscaping needs some real work.

If you haven't run away screaming yet, check out some more photos. The house is currently listed at $139,000. Fixed up, it'd be a $400,000 house. I think, with the market as it is, the bank might be willing to take $30K on it. It'll take a ton of skill or a good chunk of money, but I think it's totally repairable.

From what I can tell, the pipes must have burst this winter. There is virtually no water damage on the second floor - the exception is by one of the radiators - which leads me to suspect that the radiator pipes froze. The house has good lines, and would be great for entertaining. Overall, it's a great deal if you're willing to wear a respirator for the next year while you fix it up. I doubt there'll ever be this much house at this price point in Shaker Heights again.

I've seen the city point of sale inspection report, and it's not so horrible as one might expect. The damage seems to be primarily to the plaster, as well as the usual foreclosure vandalism.

All in all, the house has great lines and great potential. There must be some other idiot than myself who thinks that restoring this house would be a good idea.

3 comments:

Amalie said...

Really, how do you say no to your own private shuffleboard?!?

I have a special place in my heart for all the Ohio blogs-- my dad was from there. And my current neighborhood was built around a streetcar, too.

I'm excited to see what you guys end up with and what you do with it!

Amanda Moran said...

Thanks for visiting my blog Christopher.

What an exciting chpater of your life you guys are about to embark upon.

I'm cating my vote for this house, by the way. I'll check back to see what happens...

Stephanie said...

Oh wow - yikes! That is the worst water damage I have ever seen!