“Does the Flying Santa stay with the house?” was the often asked question at a well-attended open house held at 2074 Yorkshire Rd. in Upper Arlington.  This classic home, and gently sloping adjoining lot, are currently on the market. The owners are hopeful that the house will welcome the next “caretaker” soon.

“We have always felt we were caretakers of the house” says Wendy Vaughan, homeowner. “This house helps to define the character that makes Upper Arlington special. We hope the next owners will preserve and care for the house as much as we have. We are ready to pass the torch.”

The 3-story stone home and adjoining lot is hard to miss; due to its prominent location at the corner of Yorkshire and Guilford Rds, the architecture, and it’s majestic stance atop a sweeping hill.  It is difficult to pass by and not notice and admire the property.

“We’ve gotten letters from people that have moved away and been back to visit,” recounts Wendy. “Even if they aren’t personally connected to the house, seeing it brings back and defines their memories of growing up in Upper Arlington. It is fun, and sometimes sad, when those memories have been shared with us.”

The home was built in 1923 for, according to tax records, Florence C Covert.  It sold in 1927 and has had 5 “caretakers” since.  Current homeowners are Roger and Wendy Vaughan, and their three children, Katie, Zach, Sara and their dog Happy.

They purchased the house and side lot in 1989. “The house was in horrible shape. Everything needed to be done to it. It probably qualified to be condemned.  We saw what it could be again,” Roger Vaughan remembers. In addition to making remodeling choices in character with the house, the Vaughans have preserved and maintained all of the original features of the home including the woodwork, flooring, doors and built-ins. The exposed stone in the kitchen, sun room and lower-level, echo the exterior,  and combined, create an old European feel .

 Lars Sandberg of Upper Arlington shared a memory he had about the property. “ About 30 years ago my father was visiting from Sweden and wanted to find a restaurant in town to eat. He wandered around and saw this house with tables along the side yard and on the side porch.  This was what restaurants in the French countryside looked like so he went in to get a table!” Lars recalls.  

“There are so many stories,” Wendy laughs. “We’ve gotten letters from people around the holidays, thanking us for putting the Santa up across the side yard.  And we heard from people when we didn’t have Santa up for a few years!  We felt we had an obligation to preserve a lot of memories!”

Santa and his sleigh with reindeer, which was made of plywood and, for years ,spanned across the side lot every holiday season,  was inherited by the Vaughans when they moved into the house in 1988. It fell apart a few years ago.  The Vaughans decided that it was too much a part of what defined the house to let it go. They had digital images taken of the almost 100 ft. long Santa and co. and had it re-made out of lighter composite metal material.

“Santa’s back!” says Roger. “It’s not that easy to get up there, but it’s worth it. It’s part of the house.”

So, yes, Santa does stay.

 We would love to show you this amazing property. Contact us at panningribar@realliving.com.

Walk through this wonderful home… 

Home sales statistics for central Ohio in 2010 showed marked improvements compared to previous years according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS® (CBR). 

The average sale price of a home in 2010 was $158,893, just 0.6 percent lower than the average price of homes sold in 2009. However, the average price of homes sold in 2009 was 2.4 percent lower than 2008 which was 5.1 percent lower than 2007. “Our market saw average sale price increases for eight of the 12 months of 2010,” says CBR’s 2011 President Rick Benjamin. “As we’ve experienced annual decreases in our average sale price since 2005, we see ending the year just half a point lower than 2009 as a positive for central Ohio homeowners.” 

The 1,460 homes sold in December 2010 is just 0.3 percent lower than the number of homes sold in December of 2009. Annual 2010 home sales (19,676) finished 2.8 percent behind 2009 (20,235).

  “There’s no question the home buyer tax credits had a significant affect on last year’s home sales,” adds Benjamin. “Providing home buyers with a substantial monetary incentive really helped to energize the market in the first half of 2010.” 

“Homes in contract (which are expected to close in January or February) are up slightly from the previous year suggesting that home sales in the first of the year could be strong.” 

Homes spent an average of 90 days on the market, a reduction of seven days from the average time to sell a home in 2009. 

In December 2010, the month’s supply of homes was down to 9.93, the lowest since last June. Month’s supply is the ratio of inventory to sales which takes into account both supply and demand. A healthy market has a 6.5 to 7-month supply of homes, meaning if no new homes were added to the market, it would take about 6.5 or 7 months to sell all the available homes.

info from the cbr newsletter released Jan 20,2011

The Columbus Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves all of Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Madison, Morrow,Pickaway and Union Counties and parts of Champaign, Clark, Fairfield, Hocking, Knox, Licking, Logan, Marion, Muskingham, Perryand Ross Counties.

Say hello to Frank Lloyd Wright! Or at least be reminded…

Currently on the market is a one-of-a-kind home located at 4398 Dublin Rd. in Columbus.

 The residence is being sold by only the second owners who are relocating to New York. They think of this as their “dream home”, are sad to leave, but life has a way of shifting the future so we must shift too right? I think this home was built from a dream and will find it next caretaker who feels the same.

In 1985 Gary Rausch, an architect and VP of Lupton Rausch Architecture and Interior Design, built a house for his family. I can only guess, however, how long the design process was. What is clear is that he built what he wanted to live in. A home of quality and custom details (the dental molding he made himself) and convenient built-ins-staying true to the character of the architecture style.

 Rausch designed and had constructed a 2,276 sq. ft mid-century modern stone and stucco ranch that rests on a serene acre plus on a private lane leading to the Scioto River. The location is perfect really. Close to 270, Riverside Dr, shopping in the Mill Run area, minutes to Tuttle Mall. The perfection lies too in the “take a breath” quality of pulling into the crushed stone drive and seeing some open space, possibly some curious deer, and even occasionally some wild turkeys!  Unbelievable–right off of Dublin Rd. just north of Cemetery and south of Davidson–the possibiltiy of owning a 365 day vacation home close everything needed for daily convenience. Cool.