There are two awards voted for by the general public at the Parade of Homes each year, the People's Choice awards.  There is an award for Favorite House and a second award for Favorite Interior Decor. 

The winner of the Central Ohio BIA 's People's Choice Award at the Parade of Homes was New England Homes for Favorite House!  The winner of the Peoples Choice Award was New England Homes for Favorite Interior Decor!  This is according to a BIA Blueprint a BIA / Daily Reporter Publication dated Monday July 11, 2006 (Monday was the 10th of July.)   Today is Tuesday July 11, 2006.

The Sheffield Park home was gorgeous inside and out.  I worked one short shift at the house during the Parade of Homes and all the people who came through said it was the best house!

Congratulations to New England Homes, Doug, John and Jim... I think.   The New England Homes house was the Fondation House for the 2006 BIA Parade of Homes.  

Parade of Homes -  Awards

Parade of Homes 2006 - Sheffield Park  

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

In an article about pricing homes Columbus' own, Harley E. Rouda Jr. CEO of Real Living,  is quoted in a New Jersey  publication  NJ.com, 'Everything  Jersey' along with other national real estate experts.

In the 'Business Brain', 'Ask the Business Brain' feature Rouda was quoted along with other national real estate experts. 

"Determining how low to go isn't easy, however.

"A house isn't a commodity," said Harley Rouda Jr., CEO and managing partner of Real Living, a brokerage with offices in 11 states.

Rouda said one way to establish a reasonable price is to look at homes up for sale that are similar to your own and see what owners are asking.

"You have to know your competition," Rouda stated."

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

The Circus House!  Of course! The corner of Dennison and Buttles, I've heard it referred to as the Circus House but I never knew of the Sells Brothers, the Sells Brothers Circus or later the Adam Forepaugh-Sells Brothers Circus or Sellsville across the Olentangy from OSU where the circus wintered, etc. 

Anyone who has been to Goodale Park or Victorian Village knows the Circus house by sight.  The present owners of the home which was last on the market in 1997 were urged via the listing agent's comments in the MLS:   "ONCE IN A LIFE TIME CHANCE TO BUY A PIECE OF HISTORY. "  It said "Circus House" in the MLS (multiple listing service of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®) remarks. 

This week, history columnist Ed Lentz tells the story of spring 1906  when Columbus was the headquarters of the best (although not the biggest) circus in the USA  in This Week Newspapers.'

"Baby animals born in the winter were kept in the basement of one of the Sells Brothers' homes at the corner of Buttles and Dennison Avenue near Goodale Park." 
 
Elephants and trains seem to be the essence of what  made the Columbus area brothers' circus the best in the country.  Columbus position as a rail hub and the Sells brothers' use of trains to move the circus in a time when most circuses were  moved via wagon  makes  sense!

A December 2004 'This Week' column by Ed Lentz spoke of Columbus place in circus history and the Sells Brothers Circus fondness for pachyderms.  

"In the years immediately after the Civil War, four enterprising brothers named Sells left the family home in what is now Dublin. If they did not run away to join the circus, they at least walked briskly to seek fame and fortune."

"And if one elephant was interesting, seven elephants in the same show were nothing less than astonishing. Or at least so it seemed to several generations of visitors to the Sells Brothers Circus."

"Each autumn, the circus would return to its winter quarters in the village of Sellsville across the river from The Ohio State University.  And each spring, for more than 30 years, it would set out to see much of America and the world once again."

"Circus Town!"  A history of the Circus House and Sells family story in the Short North Gazette by Nancy Patzer includes:

"During the late 1800s, the Sells Brothers Circus was one of the largest, most successful shows of its kind in the country. At the time the home was built, Peter Sells and his three brothers were among the wealthiest citizens of  Columbus.   As front man for the operation, Peter traveled ahead of the circus to book engagements, post advertisements and arrange railroad transportation for the massive operation" ....  among juicier details of the Sells Brother's Circus, Circus House  and the Sell's family history.

The photo taken in 2003  is on the Franklin County Auditor's website.  

The Short North Gazette at www.ShortNorth.com is an "independent newspaper serving the Short North neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, since 1987."  

ThisWeek News  www.thisweeknews.com  is  part of The Columbus Dispatch.  ThisWeek  community newspapers serve and local community news in areas  including Worthington, Dublin, New Albany, Clintonville, Upper Arlington, Gahanna, Northland, The Westside, New Albany,  Westerville,  etc in Central Ohio.  

Copyright 2006  Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

I'm not going to mention names but I am amazed when local people don't realize that Riverlea is not a Worthington neighborhood. I have shown homes in Riverlea, where the listing agent indicates Riverlea is a Worthington neighborhood. 

Riverlea Ohio is a separate village, a non charter village according to the official village website. Riverlea is a suburb of Columbus, just like Worthington, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, Dublin, Westerville, etc. The village of Riverlea has a mayor and a village council and an official website!

Riverlea is in the Worthington school district.  Riverlea is surrounded on three sides by Worthington.  The west side is bordered by the Olentangy River.

Wikipedia has an entry about Riverlea Ohio. 

The City of Worthington website has a page about Riverlea.  Maybe what confuses people is  Riverlea Ohio residents mailing address is Worthington Ohio, 43085.  Riverlea is small.  Eighteen streets according to The City of Worthington website.  I am stumped to come up with 18 street names...I know I tried once.

Big news in Riverlea in 2006 includes the OSU airport, a coyote  visiting the neighborhood via the river (watch  out for pets!), and this Saturday there will be an Easter Egg Hunt on Riverlea's pictureque Village Green. 
 

The official Riverlea website contains a history of the land and the village.
 
"The Village Council met for the first time on Monday night April 17, 1939. The Council met at the McConagha funeral home on High Street and it was thought that it would be some time before a permanent meeting place was settle upon. The Council still meets on Monday nights, and it still hasn't found a permanent home! " It seems they meet in council members homes now. 

Riverlea's homes were mostly built in the 1940's and 1950's. The architecture is a mix of styles and materials although there are a lot of stone homes.   Home improvements require permits:

"Home improvement be be approved by the Planning Commission."  

Riverlea has gorgeous lush green lawns, beautiful gardens and no sidewalks  but Riverlea is a walking community.  Or seems to be a community of walkers, walk the dog,  walk to Worthington shops and restaurants,  walk to parades and events in Worthington, walk for leisure. 

I sent a couple I met at an open house in Old Worthington to walk around Riverlea. After walking around the neighborhood they did not think Riverlea was for them but when they came back to look for homes she walked up to the first house we looked at in Riverlea and said 'this is the house." 

Copyright Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe