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Kevin Marsh Events

2018 House Tour Reveal – Cox Home / Library

This reveal is the historical building on the 2018 Clifton House Tour.

George Barnesdale Cox. (1853-1916), nationally known for many years as the “Easy Boss of
Cincinnati,” controlled city politics for over 25 years. When in his early 40s, “Boss” Cox contracted the region’s most prominent architectural firm, Hannaford & Sons, to build a residence for for his status in the Clifton Gaslight District on a property opposite Burnet Woods Park. Samuel Hannaford had recently completed both City Hall and Music Hall and over his career designed more than 300 buildings in the Cincinnati area, including a store and apartment building on 7th Street for Cox. Cox lived in Parkview manor and entertained lavishly there from 1895 until his death from pneumonia at age 63 in 1916. His wife maintained the home until she died in 1938. It was bequeathed to the Union Bethel and became a home for girls until 1947 when it was purchased by Pi Kappa Alpha for a fraternity house. In 2007 Michael L. Dever purchased the property and then in 2010 donated it to the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to become what is now the Clifton Branch of the Library. Upon completion of extensive remodeling to upgrade the building and meet modern facility requirements it opened to the public on May 28, 2015.

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour. Buy your tickets in advance for $20 or on May 13 for $25.

Kevin Marsh Events

2018 House Tour Reveal – Alscher Hancock House

Our fifth reveal for the 2018 Clifton House Tour is the Alscher Hancock House built in 2013.

This imaginative exercise in residential infill integrates Twentieth Century Modernism with more recent contemporary architecture, while being distinct from, yet compatible with, the surrounding historically-inflected homes.

The basically box-like form of their residence is actually an “L” shape hat opens up an extra seven degrees. The roof appears deceptively flat but is also slightly angled toward the center in what is known as a “butterfly” form. The home is enlivened outside and in by intersecting shapes at narrow angles that provide deep overhangs above the front entry and rear deck, as well as oriel windows (hanging bays) that relieve the rectangular overall form. The theme of angularity continues with the double butterfly shape of the roof recalling Mid-Century Modern design, with its high sides dipping downward to a central valley that provides both interior drama and efficient drainage. For the home’s façades, a juxtaposition between materials is created; although its basic exterior surfaces have a smooth stucco finish, raised panels of concrete block masonry are openly treated as mere veneer in order to be structurally honest, since they are non-load- bearing yet establish a layered, textural contrast. Also, stone was selected to relate sensitively to the native stone found in the site and reused in the landscaping.

The Alscher Hancock House has achieved the highest level of LEED certification-
Platinum.

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour. Buy your tickets in advance for $20 or on May 13 for $25.

Kevin Marsh Events

2018 House Tour Reveal – Louis W. Kaiser House

Our fourth reveal for the 2018 Clifton House Tour is the Louis W. Kaiser House, built in 1909.

Evoking the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright’s early Prairie Style, this relatively modest home also represents the reaction against the excesses of Late Victorian Period Eclecticism. It was designed in 1909 for an officer of the once-prominent John Van Range Co. (a later rival of the Resor Stove Company). With emphasis on horizontal elements, the façade utilizes wide eaves that cross the first-floor front, the projecting porch, and even more deeply the main roof line. Used as roof supports at the front porch, bold masonry piers encase the entrance
and simplified wooden balusters. Plain square windows punctuate the bare walls.

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour. Buy your tickets in advance for $20 or on May 13 for $25.

Kevin Marsh Events

2018 House Tour Reveal – John G. Japp House

Our third reveal for the 2018 Clifton House Tour is the John G. Japp House, built in 1905.

This splendid example of the American Four-Square architectural form (the cubical
two-story equivalent of a one-story “bungalow’) is elaborated by subtle period
references, while retaining its overall Arts & Crafts character. Each façade is almost
symmetrical with the centers emphasized by dormers that share the gentle “rake” or
outward slope of the hipped red-tiled roofs. One of the earth-tone orange-brick
home’s distinguishing features is the use of alternating brick quoins to accentuate
the corners including those of the flat bays on the front and angled bays on the sides.
Also remarkable are the imposing chimneys which flair at their tops for emphasis.

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour. Buy your tickets in advance for $20 or on May 13 for $25.

Kevin Marsh Uncategorized

2018 House Tour Reveal – Herbert A. Faber House

Our second reveal for the 2018 Clifton House Tour is the Herbert A. Faber House, built in 1923.

Built in 1923 for one of the founders of Cincinnati’s own Formica Company, Herbert Alfred Faber, this charming stone house has the feeling of an enlarged English “Cotswold Cottage,” with a low recessed entry alluding to its supposed humble origin, despite considerable actual size. The rough, uneven, deliberately crude stonework is laid with thick, recessed concrete mortar, further perpetuating this pseudo-unassuming effect, all of which lies blanketed under a projecting, undulating roofline and hooded dormers recalling thatched roofs of the English countryside. An impressive chimney-stack accented with slanted stones, pierced by diminutive windows, faces the street, and curved walls at the opposite end of the house lead down to the driveway and garage on the lower level. The Faber residence hugs the hilltop it is perched on, at the summit of a promontory overlooking the wooded ravine’s naturalized setting. While the front façade has few, small windows facing the lane, the house opens to its picturesque location the farther back from the front one gets, with many windows and a projecting viewing-terrace in the rear (its fine new iron railing appears to be inspired by Japanese sword-guards used by Charles R. McIntosh at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland).

The above is just a small portion of what is written in the tour book. Learn more about this home on the Clifton House Tour.