Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Sad, sad, sad

I wrote about this house earlier this year, in March. It was far too cold to prowl around, so I linked to a very good article about its history.

Today I received a comment to moderate that simply said this house burned to the ground today, and gave me a link.

A beautiful house, for you to look at one more time:





Firestone family home to be relocated

  • Published: Sat, August 13, 2011 @ 12:00 a.m.
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Crews are preparing to move an Italianate-style home owned by the Firestone family, known for its tire empire, just east on Lipply Road in view of Pine Lake. The house is currently next to the Firestone tire-testing facility.
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Tom Ellison of New Springfield said he purchased the Firestone house partly as a way to create work for his company, Tom Ellison Excavating.
By Ashley Luthern

NORTH LIMA
A piece of local history will have a new location — albeit only 900 feet from where it has stood since 1880.
Crews are preparing to move an Italianate-style home owned by the Firestone family, known for its tire empire, just east on Lipply Road in view of Pine Lake. Tom Ellison of New Springfield purchased the home, and his company, Tom Ellison Excavating, and Stein House Movers of Cortland are transporting the house.
“Too often we munch and crunch these old buildings,” Ellison said.
Ellison purchased five acres on Lipply Road through David A. LoGiudice, a real-estate broker and appraiser with Boardman-based David Realty, and first expressed interest in the house in October.
Ben Strawinski, supervisor of the 400-acre Firestone tire-testing facility that is next to the house, called the situation a “win-win.”
“We would have recycled parts of the house, but that was a last resort,” he said.
The Firestone company has maintained the house since the last occupant, Beatrice Webber, a Fire-stone family friend, left about six years ago, Strawinski said.
The space where the house is will be turned into a parking lot for visitors to the testing center.
Strawinski said the home was used by Harvey S. Firestone’s sister.
Visitors to the testing site still can look across the street and view the area where Firestone went camping with Henry Ford and Thomas Edison and the remains of a horse track where Firestone first tested his rubber tires.
The Firestone Homestead where Harvey S. Firestone was born and grew up was moved to Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., in 1983. The homestead, which included a barn, was built in 1828.
Ellison said he owns several older homes and rental properties and acquired this home partly as a way to create work for his company.
LoGiudice said by moving the house down the road — and avoiding crossing state Route 7 — the task of temporarily disrupting electric service was made easier. Ellison added the house likely will travel “at a creep” down Lipply Road in about two weeks.
Once there, Ellison will renovate the house and make a circular driveway. But the house isn’t for him — “I already have a home on the other side of the lake” — and Ellison said he will sell it.
“This house will be a thing of beauty,” he said.
...
Harvey Firestone introduced vulcanizing of rubber; he, Henry Ford and Charles Goodyear gave us cars with tires.

28 comments:

  1. I followed the link. No weather related reason and no one living in it so I would suspect arson. Interesting and historic story. Please keep us updated on the investigation. Such a shame.

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  2. So very sad when such beautiful places are gone.

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  3. I remember your post....then I thought it looked like a rather large and grand dolls house

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  4. Very sad, a fire does sound suspicious.

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  5. Another little bit of history biting the dust, That is so sad.

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  6. Yes, what a sad end to a beautiful place.

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  7. That's so sad , I love old homes they have a feel that new places just don't have.
    That was a beautiful building.
    Merle..........

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  8. I drove past this afternoon and basically just two small wooden structures still standing but continues to smolder. Will be interested in seeing what is on the news.

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  9. Hari OM
    Ohhhhh............not good...... YAM xx

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  10. Oh no! That's utterly dreadful! I was so hoping that we'd get to see it in all it's glory.
    Jane x

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  11. That is sad indeed. It was beautiful.

    Love,
    Janie

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  12. So sad when such a lovely old place is taken from us.
    Joanne, thank you so much for your encouraging words, they mean so much to me!

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  13. Ah, I remember that post. A beautiful place - what a shame.

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  14. I remember the post about this beautiful place -- my kind of dream house. It's very sad and very suspicious, I suspect...

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  15. Oh this is a terrible shame! I did read the story about it with the link. I too agree it is awfully suspicious with the cause of the fire. Let us know if you find anything else about it!

    betty

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  16. That is very very sad, such a waste. I hope the perpetrator gets caught, although it seems unlikely. Have they determined whether or not is was arson? There doesn't seem to be any other way an unoccupied house with no power would burn down.

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  17. oh that is sad news-- i love old houses-- and this one was especially grand

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  18. Very sad, indeed! I saw in the article that Tom did not have the place insured, so it's a total loss on that front as well. Although places like this are really irreplaceable in my book.

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  19. In Europe, a home is considered respectable after a few hundred years. Here they are burned and bull-dozed down. So sad.

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  20. I suppose that is one of the things about wooden houses - we have so few of them here in the UK Joanne.
    It is really beautiful.

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  21. Oh no, what a beauty it must have been. I wish they had the sprinkler system there.

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  22. Awww, it was so beautiful. Some houses have a special compelling magic and that looks like it would have fascinated me too!

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  23. What shame, it's a beautiful house.

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