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Friday, March 30, 2007

short historical video

I posted a short historical video at the home page at www.jahci.org about the Indian villages of Greentown and Jerome's Town. It's a flash video...just give it a little time to load and it will start automatically.
The video is about how Montgomery Montour, a Delaware Indian, successfully petitioned Congress in 1806 to have the villages set aside for the Indians that lived there. Few people know the details of the story I've told in this video, including the fact that Montgomery Montour's chalk portrait made during his Washington visit became the basis for a painted portrait passed off as that of a chief of the Mandain nation.
The video is about 6 minutes long.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

home of tomorrow

The home of tomorrow is back on the market now at $214,900

Thursday, March 22, 2007

home of tomorrow

The Westinghouse Home of Tomorrow (1934) on Andover Road will be back on the market soon. This is a picture from one of the two original second floor baths.

Friday, March 16, 2007

2006 Mansfield real estate stats

Locally: MBOR's MLS Stats
Property Type..Number..Avg.Price
Residential......1,418....$121,894
Multi-Family...........53......$97,773
Vacant Land..........53......$56,776
Commercial..........21....$137,430
TOTAL:.............1,545....$117,078

Business Confidence Nationally: Practitioners expect to see much better home sale conditions in the months ahead as buyer traffic strengthens. At the same time, a slight easing in seller traffic could help tighten inventories, shoring up prices. (Practitioner confidence was surveyed in January and looks ahead six months.)

Homes Sales Nationally: Final 2006 existing home sales are in and the year was the third-highest on record with 6.48 million sales. A 4.9 percent increase in December 2006 pending homes sales - a leading indicator - suggests 2007 is shaping up to be another solid year.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

richland engineering facade


The new facade on Richland Engineering has been uncovered. Work is still in progress, but it's near completion. Dan Seckel is the architect for the project that was approved by the Preservation Commission because of its location in the historic district.

Friday, March 9, 2007

doodle auction



Doodle Auction to benefit Mansfield City Schools Art programs.
Donated doodles by Mario Andretti, Donald Trump, Jamie Farr, Jay Leno, Phyllis Diller, Dick Goddard, G. Gordon Liddy, Dick Gregory, Arnold Palmer, Bob Barker, Rosanne Arquette, Randy Travis, Dr. Phil, .... and the list goes on and on.
Tickets, $20. Call Connie Pastor at 419 756-4543.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

housing market

Mansfield's housing market posted a 5.9% gain in number of units sold in January, over the same month a year ago. The average price was $81,457, a 16.8% drop. Activity in the bank-owned and lower priced market appears to be the major reason for the price drop. Ohio overall had a 4.2% increase in units sold and a 5.3% price drop. The state average price was $140, 544.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

westinghouse home of tomorrow

The Preservation Commission toured the Westinghouse Home of Tomorrow (1934) on Andover Road yesterday. It's in the middle of some repairs prior to getting it back on the market after being foreclosed and going back to the bank. The flat roofs are going to be replaced with rubber when the weather allows.
I was happy to see some of the most outstanding features haven't been lost. The upstairs bathrooms are still in fantastic condition with the bakelight(?) veneer and inlay deco designs still like new. There has been cieling damage on the second floor from the flat roof areas, and some drop cielings applied in the past as cover-up.
Scott Schaut brought along an album of Westinghouse photos and we spent about an hour comparing the original photos with existing things in the house. The kitchen is the most radically altered part of the house, as you can imagine. Even though it was the home of tomorrow, we are talking 1934, so understandable that the original kitchen innovations of that era didn't survive the test of time so well.