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Step back in time to 1890 and this is the house you would
have seen on the southwest corner of Broad and West Walnut streets.
The solidly built house remains, but like any centenarian, it needed
tender loving care.
Albert H. Sites and his wife Carrie built the 10-room house
with the large attic after they had purchased the land from W.C.
and Bessie E. Moore in 1896.
Moore was associated with Kagey in the lumber business at
the corner of Washington and Taylor streets. Sites is listed in the city directory as a traveling salesman.
The spindles and latticework on the porch as well as the cone-shaped turret reflect the building style of the late Victorian homes.
The workmanship of early craftsmen is further evident in the fan light and side lights of leaded glass that enhance the front door. Wide crown molding, pocket doors, carefully laid patterned hardwood floors, and the spindle work detailing on the oak front stairway further show the attention to details by the builders of the period.
Neighbors remember that in the late 1920s and 30s that this was the home of Samuel L. and Sophia Grundstein. The 1928 city directory states that he was the proprietor of the Ashland Auto Wrecking Co., the Ashland Waste Material Co., the Ashland Iron and Barrel Co., the Main Tire Store and the National Battery Service Co. Most of these enterprises were located at 228 Ohio St. in the Erie railroad yard.
Elmer and Flossie Fulmer and their family were the next occupants. He was the owner of the Ashland Ice and Coal Co.
For 39 years (1944-1983) this house was in the Dwain Murray family. Murray came to Ashland from Marietta to teach science, biology, family living and photography at Ashland High School. He was also adviser to the school yearbook. His darkroom remains in the basement.
His wife Olive taught English and speech, directed plays and was the librarian for 11 years at Jeromesville High School and 11 more after it became Hillsdale High School.
Their son Joe, a prominent attorney, spoke for his sisters Dana and Sue when he said, “It was a grand place for kids to live in while growing up.” Sue Murray Wagner echoed his thoughts when she said that the bay windows, the inside of the turret and the front and back staircases offered all sorts of areas for playing make-believe.
In spite of the many windows to wash and the care the home took, Mrs. Murray had fond memories of the home and the yard with its grape arbor, fruit trees, sweet peas, rose of sharon and other old-fashioned flowers.
Prior to 1940, the porch was glassed in. Murray converted two of the five bedrooms on the second floor and the attic into an apartment and constructed a back entrance. For many year Agnes Ballentine, a missionary and librarian, resided here.
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