The 2022 Homes of History Event
August 1st - 31st
Homes of History
celebrates our city’s century-old, diverse and fine quality architecture.
* Signs are out all August!
* Almost 200 participating homeowners throughout Upper Arlington.
* Signs indicate homes built by 1922 and retaining much of their original front exterior facade.
* Map and more fun facts below:
General locations of our almost 200 participating homes are highlighted here.
Look for the sign:
Physical maps are available at all our UA Libraries, South of Lane and Cover to Cover bookstore on the Mallway. Be sure to stop by to see Cover to Cover’s window display celebrating architecture!
* If you think your home qualifies and you have not been contacted, please fill out this form.
Gallery of 2022 Event
Featured Homes - 100+ year-old farm houses of upper arlington
History of the Gease house (Fishinger Rd):
Best as can be determined, the Gease house was originally built in the early 1880s by Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Gease as the homestead on his 25 acre farm in Perry Township. Much of today’s The Ridge area was part of his farm, and many deeds show Frank Gease as the original owner of those properties.
The original house consisted of two floors with two bedrooms upstairs and two rooms on the first floor. The house has since added a kitchen, family room, renovated existing space for an indoor first floor bathroom, and a second floor bedroom and bathroom. The original part of the house still has most of the Victorian Farmhouse style woodwork that was installed when it was first built.
(Thanks to Frank Tuttle for this submission.)
Click on image to see home’s history.
Click on image to see home’s history.
GUIDE TO COMMON ARCHITECTURAL STYLES FOUND IN UA’S HISTORIC DISTRICT
Since Upper Arlington was originally founded in the southern part of our city, the majority of our century-old homes are found in our Historic District. The District is nationally recognized for its outstanding and numerous examples of Twentieth Century Revival architectural styles. Page through this excerpt from a 1992 publication of the Upper Arlington Historical Society to learn about the background and characteristics that comprise these distinctive house styles.
What’s a hipped roof or quoin? Here’s your glossary for those intricate details within the architecture.
FOUR THINGS Happening in Upper Arlington in 1922
—> Thanks to UA Archives through the UA Public Library for making so many of our historical documents accessible!
Upper Arlington was roughly bounded by Fifth Avenue to the south, Andover Road to the east, Lane Avenue to the north and Riverside Drive to the west (excluding Scioto Country Club). See the Annexation Map for details.
Our first community magazine, The Norwester, ended its publication in March of 1922. Click on these select excerpts from those last issues:
January 1922 - Updating your home’s decor.
February 1922 - One of the last introductions to new residents and their homes, this one about Don Casto who later earned the nickname "the “Father of the Modern Shopping Center” for creating nearby shopping for UA (North Mallway) and Grandview. This home is part of our celebration!
March 1922 - A time when you could buy an empty lot in Upper Arlington to build.
The Village Commission was busy at work governing our young community. Links to two interesting pages from their 1922 minutes:
July 3, 1922 - Just a normal Commission meeting: Columbus wants to annex UA; streets need resurfacing; a resident has not cleaned up their construction debris; discussion of the lights at the tennis courts (at Miller Park).
November 13, 1922 - note the last paragraph, where a marshal is appointed “to keep contracting material off the streets and sidewalks and to control, as far as possible, excess speed of automobiles through the village.”
Explicit home ownership restrictions based on race are not found in deeds signed in 1922. These clauses do not appear until 1926. More information here.