Ambleside, Estate of the Day
Last year I heard that Marge Schott's Indian Hill, Ohio mansion home was on the market for $5.4 million. Now real estate commenter extraordinaire Spectacular Bid led me to the new listing with lots of pictures and a new lower price, $3.95 million. The estate of the late Cincinnati Reds owner, who died in 2004, is a huge 19-room castle-like rambler on 15 acres. The Marge and Charles J. Schott Foundation is selling the property which was first named Ambleside and was built in 1928 by architect John Henri Deeken to resemble a mansion in Ireland. The home has steep gables, a slate roof, stone tower and leaded windows and seven bedrooms. The Cincinnati Enquirer calls it "a bit of a fixer-upper" and they aren't kidding. The listing pictures show a home that is beautiful and old but very dated and in need of restoration. There are eleven fireplaces and has a buzzer system used to call servants and servants' quarters near the children's wing. The home, with its labyrinth of rooms, small upstairs windows and heavy wood may be out of step with the needs of today's wealthy buyers.
Schott lived in the house for fifty years and after her death the contents of the home were auctioned off. The entire property is 60 acres but the rest of the land has been split off into nine five-acre lots which will be sold separately. Ambleside joins a host of multimillion properties on the market in Indian HIll, many with a similar castle-like feel and built in the 1920s by prominent Cincinnati-area businessmen. None of them seem to be in as rough a state as Marge Schott's palace which would likely take a dedicated team and many dollars to restore it to its former glory.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DJ Jul 13th 2009 1:19PM
It looks like it could be a beautiful property once restored, but you're probably looking at another $2 million to get there. Plus, since it is a historic landmark, what restricitons are there on updating the kitchen, grounds and other arreas?
gregg Jul 13th 2009 9:47PM
This place is absolutely incredible, and a steal, even at 3.9 million. Yes, the whole place needs a rehab, most notably the kitchen, which is an interesting curiosity in its current "period" state, but Marge probably never realized it needed updating. If she had a buzzer for the "servants", (and why not!!) she was probably never in the kitchen:) Too bad the pool and poolhouse portion of the property have supposedly already been sold off separately. That should have remained with the sale of the house to keep the entire estate intact. Marge was OK. She may have had a big mouth, but she also had a big heart - she left most of her $120 million estate to charity, and left us this architectural masterpiece.
Check out Your Mama's outrageous blog at Realestalker @yahoo.com by clicking on the "on the market at 5.4 million" in the 1st sentence of the text above for more details and some interesting comments.
Susan Jul 14th 2009 1:58AM
I love it. Yes, the kitchen is a relic. Here's a kitchen that turned out sumptuous meals for parties, and for the family and a large resident staff three times a day, too. Somehow they did it without the granite and stainless that home buyers in every range require these days, whether or not they actually cook.
I hope the right buyer comes along to be the next caretaker of this gem.
Spectacular Bid Jul 14th 2009 10:38AM
Such a gem by architect John Henri Deeken who did a few other notable homes in that very upscale Indian Hill township. The house is recognized as a landmark only by Indian Hill which is quite different from a State registry or event he National Historic Registry.
I presume that logical restoring and updating the property (such as a modern kitchen, baths, etc) won't run afoul of any local laws. Typically the historical associations will get involved when the facade is changed. So provided the new owners don't redically alter the exterior; e.g. decide to raze the garage court, they'd be fine.
While I don't buy into the overused hyperbole of "you couldn't build this today" rather it is that the expense to do so in 2009 from scratch with the necessary skilled labor, top quality materials, et al would far exceed 2 or even 3 times this 12,000 sq ft home's asking price.
The core property was last year was being pitched on just 10-acres and a buyer expressed interest in it on 15-acres. That seemingly fell through but the Schott Foundation which holds it appears to have agreed to the logic and has officially marketed it on 15-acres. The balance of the 62-acre estate is being subdivided by HPA Development Group of Montgomery for development. The zoning is such that the minimum acreage is 5-acres.
[ I hope the development is similar to Tangley Oaks in Lake Bluff, IL ( http://tangleyoaks.org/ ) which at its core is the 26,000 sq ft tudor mansion built by Harrie T. Lindeberg for the Armour family. The mansion is still the centerpiece of the divided up estate with the new homes tucked away on very wooded lots and driving into the community you initially think its still one big estate. ]
Per the Business Courier of Cincinnati (7-11-09) ...:"According to the Hamilton County Auditor’s Web site, the undivided 62-acre Schott property, including the house and other improvements, was worth $13.5 million based on a 2008 reappraisal. The site lists the value of the house and other improvements as $12 million. Annual property taxes are $168,000."
Hence another example of a lovely old estate that is always going to be crippled by taxes. The purchase price may be "reasonable" compared to other affluent areas of the country and the quality of the home, however after the additional cost of restoration, likely an increase in the appraisal and property taxes, not to mention the annual heating/cooling/power and other upkeep costs - plus the insurance premiums - you're talking some very serious annual expenditures.
Brian Jul 15th 2009 8:43AM
You'd think Marge would've had lawn jockeys. LOTS of lawn jockeys.