This North Avondale Home Was A Xavier Dorm For More Than 30 Years

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Photograph by Wes Battoclette

For our August 2017 issue, we explored Cincinnati’s rebuilding boom.

Ryan Messer & Jimmy Musuraca: 992 Marion Ave., North Avondale

Originally built in 1897, this home is better known as Marion Hall, a Xavier dorm from 1958 to 1991. Veteran rehabbers Ryan Messer and Jimmy Musuraca bought it for $440,000, and spent more than a year turning this intricately constructed building into their new family home.

Photograph by Wes Battoclette

Photograph by Wes Battoclette

Photograph by Wes Battoclette


Plaster
The home’s Beaux Arts architecture is defined by its lavish attention to detail. That means intricate plaster work is key, so the couple turned to former neighbor and longtime Over-the-Rhine resident Ron Malone.

Photograph by Wes Battoclette


Woodwork
Turn any corner in the home and you’re greeted by ornate wood detailing.

Photograph by Wes Battoclette

Photograph by Wes Battoclette


Over more than 12,000 square feet, that’s a lot of wood. Messer and Musuraca relied on Claude Spires. “He and his team do fantastic work,” says Musuraca.


Stonework
Messer says that their rehab relied on “a very diverse group of subcontractors.” That includes Jack Martin, who restored the structure’s light-colored stone, another defining Beaux Arts characteristic.

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