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W.H. Brubaker was part owner of Ashland Hardware and built
his fine home on Center Street in 1905. The exterior of this Colonial
Revival home boasts both front and side porches. The front porch
originally wrapped around the north side of the home and extended to
the bay window. The first thing you see upon entering the front doors
is the foyer and the grand staircase leading up to the second floor. All
the wood trim on the first floor is quarter-sawn oak. The foyer retains
the original pressed-fiber board beneath the chair rail. The wood
flooring in the foyer and throughout the home is a floating parquet
meaning none of the 1½ inch quarter-sawn oak squares is nailed to
the sub-floor. They “float” above it held together by long Pop-sickle
stick-like pieces of wood inserted into the grooves on the side of each
square locking them into place.
The leaded glass in the front doors matches the large window
in the dining room bay. Take a moment to look at the tile around the fireplace in the parlor. The Art Deco design was just becoming popular when the home was built. Mr. Brubaker was careful to utilize all of the square footage available in the home. Beneath both staircases are closets and in every window seat there is storage. The attic is a full third story and the house sits on a full basement with a sandstone foundation. For a home of this age it is unusual to have so much storage space. The kitchen was an added on to in the 60’s and the home was made a duplex sometime in the 30’s, perhaps as a result of the depression, with the rear bedroom serving as the kitchen for the upper unit.
The back yard of the home is large for a city lot and has a detached carriage house that has been converted to a garage. At one time there were probably formal gardens between the house and the garage but today there is more modern landscaping in place.
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