Stately stone house will be on N. Anthony Historic Home and Garden Tour
They live in a house once owned by the man whose company built the Lincoln Tower, Memorial Coliseum and Fort Wayne's filtration plant.
It's an understatement to say Greg Renno and Angie Chester's Craftsman-style house is sturdy.
The house built in the 1920s by William Hagerman of the Buesching-Hagerman and Co. Construction Co. will be on the North Anthony Historic Home and Garden Tour on Saturday.
The couple moved into the house three years ago, and their enthusiasm and appreciation for it bubble over as they take a visitor on a tour.
“We just love old things,” Chester said, explaining that they were looking for a home on nearby Kensington Boulevard or Pemberton Drive when the for-sale sign went up in the yard of the house at 2105 N. Anthony Blvd. Their real estate agent wanted to set up an appointment to look at the house a couple of days later, but Chester and Renno didn't want to wait.
They looked at it that same day and made an offer. “We didn't think we'd get it,” said Renno, a software engineer at Raytheon.
Their haste paid off; they got the house. They've heard stories that the house has never been on the market for more than three days.
It's not hard to understand why. The handsome brick two-story sits high on the lot and over the busy street, making it seem even more imposing. Most notable is the stone porch on the front of the house and the stone fireplace on the south end.
History suggests the stone was taken out of the St. Joe River near North Side High School, hauled to the house by horse and wagon, and cut by German stonecutters. That same stone was used for the living- room fireplace; one story the couple heard was that Hagerman laid the fireplace himself. The couple have built their knowledge of the house by speaking with previous owners and Hagerman's grandchildren.
“We want to find out as much about the house as we can,” Chester said.
Apparently, Hagerman witnessed the flood of 1913 and intentionally built the house on high ground to prevent it from flooding. It's also sturdy, with a basement nearly 8 feet tall and built of poured concrete walls and ceiling, an example of the “commercial” specifications Hagerman is said to have used. In the 1950s, the house's basement was designated as a bomb shelter, according to Hagerman's grandchildren.
Renno suspects Hagerman not only used commercial products, but used the most modern products available at the time. All electrical wiring is grounded in metal conduit.
Still, sturdy though it may be, can a house built in the 1920s accommodate the lifestyle of a family in 2010? The couple has two children – Athena, 7, and Adam, 13.
Chester and Renno have made few changes to the four-bedroom house. One concern they had was that it only has a bath and a half. They could build a bathroom in the basement or possibly turn a sitting room off their bedroom into a bathroom, but “I don't know that we'll ever do it now that we're here,” Renno said.
Neither of the Art Deco-style bathrooms has been updated since 1938, and both include the original fixtures from that era, including one-piece toilets that still work. The half-bath downstairs is done in a turquoise and yellow color scheme. The tile and fixtures in both are still clean and in good condition.
Being an older house, it of course doesn't have the convenience of an attached garage, but it does have a big detached garage. It's big enough to hold four cars and has an interesting story of its own.
The brick garage is built in the same style as the house and even has two “dog doors” that Hagerman used for his hunting dogs. The bead-board ceiling is 12 feet high, and the garage has industrial-style, hammered-glass windows the couple thinks may have been leftovers from one of Hagerman's construction projects.
Renno and Chester have had fun discovering various features of the house and learning about previous owners. But their biggest discovery was what was hidden above the ceiling in the dining room.
Curious about why that ceiling was lower than others in the house, they finally cut a hole in it and discovered a beamed ceiling hiding above. The ceiling has been restored, with Renno having to paint only one panel. They also learned a built-in buffet had been cut down to a lower height at some point in the home's history. A paint mark on the wall shows where the buffet used to be. The couple put a small frame around it to showcase a little of the home's history.
Renno and Chester are most interested in preserving or uncovering the home's history, rather than making changes. They're leaving the wallpaper and draperies in the living room from a redecorating project in the '60s because they are in good condition and go with the house. The kitchen, however, which was remodeled in 1978 and doesn't go with the style of the house, is a future project.
Another future project is restoration of what was once a built-in couch in the office.
Both Renno and Chester also enjoy collecting antiques, including some pieces associated with the Lincoln Tower, such as plates and a coffee cup with an image of the tower. Since the house was built by the same company that built the tower, they like the tie-in.
source: http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100623/NEWS01/6230313/1001/NEWS