4307 Erie Ave., Madisonville, $875,900
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EXP REALTY
The Google Street View image of this Madisonville home still shows a drab older property in need of some attention. But the digital portrayal hasn’t caught up with this remarkable Queen Anne-style home’s real-life revamp.
Built in 1864, it features a large wraparound porch and polygonal corner tower, making it stand out on busy Erie Avenue.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EXP REALTY
The home also played a role in a sensational 1920s divorce. Lorena A. Smith was granted a divorce from her physician husband, Dr. B. Decatur Smith, in September 1925. She charged that her husband had formed a relationship with Mrs. Lola L. Boone, Mrs. Smith’s sister, who was also in the process of a divorce. The judge granting the divorce awarded the property to Mrs. Smith, but the story only gets stranger from there.
In 1927, Mrs. Smith sued Dr. Smith, claiming that the couple had come to an arrangement—even before their divorce was granted—that she would sue to get the house, “to forestall an alienation suit by [his brother-in-law] Boone,” as the Cincinnati Enquirer put it, and after that danger had passed, the couple would remarry.
When Dr. Smith refused, and registered his deed to the property, she sued, producing letters the Enquirer described as “love letters of the gushing sort” from the doctor detailing the plot. The judge awarded the property to Mrs. Smith.
Over the following years, it changed hands a number of times, and for a number of years it was home to James and Susan Slaughter, graphic designers who created the show posters for Concours d’Elegance for decades.
You get a sense of the appeal of this home from its open foyer, with a wide columned entryway, fielded paneling, coffered wooden ceiling, and substantial staircase.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EXP REALTY
Says eXp Realty listing agent Robert Collins: “It was renovated from the studs out; nothing is untouched. It was done with an eye toward preservation, but for a 2023 buyer.” True to form, the kitchen is sleek and modern with a classy recessed refrigerator and other high-end appliances; it flows into an open-plan dining room. There are two different double doors into the back deck: one opening from the dining room and the other adjacent to a handy mudroom.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EXP REALTY
Upstairs, the primary suite has a spacious and comfortable double-head tile shower, and the third floor is fully fixed up with noise-dampening carpeting and built in shelving. Outside, look for a beautifully updated front porch with a newly widened staircase. Perhaps most dramatic, though, is the new sunny yellow paint job on the exterior walls, signaling a bright future for this historic home.
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