Renew Medina is restoring this house, built around 1870, at 530 S. Court St. The exterior of the home has been primed and will be painted with historically accurate colors in the spring. (DAVID KNOX / GAZETTE)
A local partnership to save a historic home in downtown Medina plans to put the house on the market by this summer.
Renew Medina, a nonprofit group formed in 2012 in association with Main Street Medina, purchased the property at 530 S. Court St. in July with the goal of revitalizing the house, which was built around 1870, and convert it into a marketable single-family home.
Renew Medina purchased the home for $45,000, said Councilman Bill Lamb, at large, who serves on the Renew Medina board.
“The idea to do this had been in the works for a number of years, but we wanted a substantial amount of money so we could make an impact on the neighborhood,” Lamb said. “It had to be a price where we could buy the house and still have money left over to do the restoration.”
Lamb said the house was a smaller single-family residence in good condition that had been vacant for a number of years.
“It wasn’t abandoned, but nothing had been done to the inside or outside for a number of years,” Lamb said. “It will be a terrific house for a small family or for a starter house.”
Renew Medina hired Summit Stripping to remove the old, flaking exterior paint and to prime the house. The exterior paint will be applied this spring and will include three colors that are historically accurate and will highlight the body of the house, the trim and the few architectural details.
Volunteers have helped to gut the interior of the house and remove a later addition to the front of it.
A donation from Charles Gibson allowed Renew Medina to hire architect Kevin Robinette, who designed a porch for the house that is a replica of the original, according to Matt Wiederhold, executive director of Main Street Medina.
This spring, the group also plans to bring in crews to do interior design work and install new windows. Renew Medina plans to host a public reception for “window day” when the windows are installed.
Wiederhold said he expects the house will be on the market by late spring at a yet-to-be determined price.
The Renew Medina partnership includes Westfield Bank, the city of Medina, Renewal by Andersen, the Interior Design Studio, South Court Historic Neighborhood Association, Medina Community Design Committee, St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, and many others. Wiederhold said the organization scouted seven homes throughout the city before deciding to purchase the South Court Street home. He said the group considered the following criteria when evaluating the homes:
• The ability to make a significant contribution to its surrounding neighborhood after restoration.
• A historic property in good condition that had not been significantly altered over time.
• Be in a desirable neighborhood for resale.
• The project could be completed from purchase through rehab to sale within the allocated loan from Westfield Bank.
Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com.