Columbus, Ohio USA
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Another Brick in the Wall
By Joel Knepp
July/August 2019 Issue
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The many charms of life in older neighborhoods such as our beloved Short North are everywhere evident: human-scale streets; mature trees and other plantings; commercial buildings and homes built with eye-pleasing details and decorative elements; and the warm look of brick and stone. The post-World War II building boom during which developers covered vast areas of farmland near our cities with roads and houses provided dwellings for millions of young families but by and large failed to accommodate our human need for grace and beauty in the places we live and work. Subsequent suburban and even urban building furthered and expanded this heedless disregard of aesthetics. For an in-depth study of this phenomenon, sometimes referred to as the Californication of America, see The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-made Landscape by James Howard Kunstler [1993]. For evidence that this regrettable trend continues to this day, just take spin down Morse Road, up Sawmill Road, or almost anywhere east of Bexley.
Society seems to finally be waking up to the fact that living and working in plain boxes fails to nurture the human spirit, and for this trend we are grateful. People of means and taste are clamoring to repopulate our older neighborhoods, providing needed restoration efforts (mostly good) but driving lower-income residents to the declining older suburbs (not so good). Revered urban pioneers blazed the trail in Victorian Village by restoring fine homes along Neil Avenue. Alongside these laudable efforts, mistakes were made. Unenlightened developers in the Short North misguidedly constructed a bunch of new homes and townhouses, some of which, like the Thurber Village apartment complexes, made no attempt to fit into the look and feel of the neighborhood and were, in fact, exactly like the suburbs. In the 1970s, a raft of infills (new houses built on vacant urban properties) half-heartedly attempted to ape the look of existing homes by including steep-pitched roofs and cheesy gable-end ornamentation. Alas, most of these pseudo-Victorian mistakes inexplicably featured vinyl-sided chimneys.
Fortunately, we have largely moved through that phase. At this point, most local developers and builders seem to get it. Generally speaking, new builds in the neighborhoods north of downtown are no longer plain boxes, but rather structures that incorporate high-quality materials, pleasing architectural detail, and tasteful landscaping. And although our portion of High Street is starting to resemble Easton, we must give some credit for the inclusion of interesting visual elements and even works of art in many of the new buildings. Check out the jazzy and colorful swatch above the entrance to the new White Castle. I wish they would lower it for better viewing.
But back to the old brick houses that are the Short North’s core. Unfortunately, some of these lovely old homes come with problems, and even, on occasion, distinctly unpleasant surprises. Over the years, some local residents have been rudely shocked to discover the unthinkable: their brick walls are giving way. In several houses of which I am aware, the walls have actually collapsed. Imagine you are sleeping contentedly in your Short North bedroom and suddenly wake up to find your outside wall is gone and you’re gazing at open air. Yikes! This occurred to a small apartment building just off Neil Avenue a year or two back. A bit earlier, the entire front of a brick house facing Goodale Park fell off while the house was being rehabbed. A similar event once occurred to a local occupied townhouse. More often than not, these problems manifest not as instant disasters but rather as cracks, sags, bulges, and misalignments that come on gradually and worsen over the years. Even a newish brick privacy wall on Price Avenue east of Dennison collapsed a few years ago. I refer to this section of Price as Frankenstreet because of its graceless, ill-conceived 1970s architecture.
Many older homes in our neighborhood were built without poured concrete footers that are the standard today. The foundations were basically a ditch filled with locally quarried limestone, with mortar filing the gaps. Upon these, tons of bricks were stacked. After passage of a century-plus in time, the enormous weight of those walls can cause shifts in the stone foundation. And mortar from days of yore doesn’t necessarily last forever; in the past 35 years, we’ve applied many a bag of mortar mix to our stone foundation, both inside and out. Other stressors to these aging foundations are poor drainage and improperly executed additions and rehab projects. One theory holds that earthquakes (yes, Ohio has ‘em) may even be a contributing factor.
Gazing above house walls, a casual stroll around the ‘hood will reveal that hundred-year-old brick chimneys are also prone to head north, south, or any direction other than plumb. Ours had to be rebuilt because pigeons (rats with wings) built multigenerational condos in them which eventually plugged up and destroyed them. After battling these pest for several years, a helpfully voracious hawk showed up and ate every last dirty bird. Another common local hassle is the failure of improperly built or just plain worn-out brick, stone, or wood retaining walls.
So to those dear readers with the desire and the ducats for a better life here in one of our picturesque neighborhoods, I say welcome, but caveat emptor, because the so-called home inspection required by your mortgage lender might or might not detect structural challenges and future wallet-draining headaches. Do not rely on this inspection. I adjure you, before committing, to personally and carefully examine the building inside and out, and don’t get distracted by the stainless-steel appliances, granite counter tops, and trendy light fixtures, because they ain’t what hold the place together. We’re talking about the bones, not the makeup. Bulged or out-of-plumb foundations or exterior walls; jacks and/or water in the basement; and crumbling foundation mortar would be red flags, as would whopperjawed chimneys and wacky retaining walls in the landscape. Any of these might, sooner or later, result in you staring day after day at masons working on scaffolding as you visualize the disappearance of your offspring’s college fund, your dream vacation, or your old-age savings while the Pink Floyd line repeats endlessly in your tortured brain: All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
Joel Knepp lives in Victorian Village with his wife Lynda McClanahan, an artist.
They performed as the musical duo Nick & Polina for many years in the area.© 2019 Short North Gazette, Columbus, Ohio. All rights reserved.
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