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When Mrs. Carleton Mitchell bought the house at 509 Center
Street, she was already familiar with the neighborhood. The daughter
of Guy C. and Kate Moore Myers, she was born in the home that is
now the Ashland County Historical Society’s museum. Later, the
family moved into the house built by her grandfather, P.A. Myers,
which is now the Trinity Lutheran Church home.
Mrs. Mitchell, who had been living in Annapolis, Maryland
for many years, consulted architect Andrew Cascio, who specialized
in restoration. Cascio made several trips to Ashland to consult with
Howard Steigerwalt, the contractor, and other concerning the
restoration process.
The house was built by Jonas Freer on the side yard of his home on the corner of East Walnut and Center streets. He sold it to George Ullman, a cashier at the Farmers’ (Huntington) Bank, in 1882 for $1200. George Ullman served as Ashland County treasurer in 1878. In 1914, the home was sold to J.M. Ritchie. Four years later, William T. Devor, a local judge, bought it for $6,000. It remained in the Devor family for the next 40 years.
Ray E. Kiefer, the next owner, sold it to Robert L. and Miriam A. Miller in 1970. Other owners have been Reginald and Frances Vance, and Megan Studeny and Bennie Uselton. Mrs. Mitchell bought it in 1984.
The original house had been made into four apartments, and a fifth one was “tacked on” at the rear. Mrs. Mitchell chose to make it into a duplex.
Exterior “gingerbread trim” was repaired and porches were returned. Inside, the 11 foot ceilings were kept and molding was installed in each room. Two marble fireplaces were refurbished.
All of the exterior paint was removed. Painting contractor Robert Bennett used Avon green with sandpiper beige and Tudor brown trim. The interior walls are painted bone white with matching woodwork. Rooms are carpeted in an oatmeal color with neutral tile in the kitchen and bath and light brick tile in the hall.
Each apartment has a living room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a bath. Ample kitchen counter space, and two tiers of cupboards off an abundance of storage area as do the 1- other closets throughout the house, some with the upper and lower rods, and all with lights that come on as the louvered doors are opened.
Each apartment has a separate large laundry room with washer and dryer, in the basement. Steigerwalt said that the basement floor was dug an additional 11 inches deeper, the solid stone foundation was pointed and sealed, and a new cement floor laid.
Herb and Jeanne Car, former Ashland residents who had been living in Pittsburgh area, returned to Ashland following their retirements and lived on the first floor. Mrs. Carr said that long before they leased the apartment, she bought a sweatshirt expressing her love for older homes.
Double font doors with beveled glass open to a stairway with a walnut railing leading directly into the second floor apartment. John Mumblo, a representative for the Squibb Pharmaceutical Company lived upstairs.
Robert Thornsburg, who did the landscaping, built a terraced area in back with a cemented space behind the newly constructed two-car garage.
On the north side of the house, and old style sidewalk was laid. It is lighted and is bordered by an iron fence. A post and rail fence and shrubbery edge the south side of the lot. The house is currently owned by Trinity Lutheran Church.
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