A CLIFTON CLASSIC - BEST Magazine Cincinnati

H I S T O R I C A L H O M E S O F G R E AT E R C I N C I N N AT I
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BEST
BEST
mariannesandhage@zoomtown.com
Photographers
REBECCA WORPLE
Established 2005
Issue No. 15
owenemma.com
CRAIG THOMPSON
craigthompsonphoto.com
Featuring 125 Families…So Far
Est. 2005
6 GREAT HOUSES
Editorial Director
MARIANNE SANDHAGE
Designer
STEPHEN SULLIVAN
steveco@fuse.net
Issue 15: Historical Homes of Greater Cincinnati
Cover Story
The Sammarcos
Oakwood
Jim and Ruthann Sammarco love playing Scrabble in one
of their favorite niches in the home that Henry Probasco
built during the time of Lincoln. Every room in this castle
is spectacular, but wait till you see the staircase.
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& THE PEOPLE
WHO BRING
THEM TO LIFE
About Best
Best Magazine is published 3X each year: January, May
and September. Its editorial focus is on featuring families in their homes: who they are, what they do, what
they like. Its advertising focus is to present products /
services most likely desired by its readers and provided
by Cincinnati’s top businesses. The location topic of
each issue changes from issue to issue.
If you would like to nominate a family for inclusion in
Best, or tell us about an advertising client you would
like to recommend, call us at 513-708-3849.
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The McElwains
A Night in the Artist Studio
The Weddles
The Ws: What the Wiedemanns started, the Weddles aim
to carry on
Being human beings, we are far from perfect. While
every reasonable effort was made to be accurate and
clear, we apologize now if something got past us. We
appreciate your understanding.
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The Leones
It Doesn’t Matter Where You Live
Coming Up Next in Best
The Daniels
Vintage Neighborhood Welcomes Modern Family
Distribution of Best
Each issue of Best is mailed to 10,000+ selected homeowners living primarily on Cincinnati’s eastside. Single
copies are available for $7 each through Joseph-Beth
Booksellers in Rookwood, and by mail from the publisher.
Accuracy
The Ruthvens
John & Judy: A Closer Look
May 2010: The Homes & People of Hyde Park &
Mt. Lookout
Spring 2010: Being Green in Cincinnati, a special
edition of Best
September 2010: The Homes & People of Indian Hill
Best is Published By
Maverick Productions, Inc.
41 Locust Hill Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45245
Tel. 513-708-3849
email: maverickproductions@zoomtown.com
Off the Top of My Head: Short Columns
10
Marianne Sandhage / You are Invited
44
Michael Mauck / Building An Historical Legacy
62
Kate Hawkins / Bad Girls Reading Bad Books
97
Paul Daugherty / Man Caves
111
Doug Sandhage / Storytellers
A CLIFTON CLASSIC
Publisher / Writer
DOUGLAS E. SANDHAGE
Tel. 513-708-3849 / dougsandhage@zoomtown.com
© 2010, Maverick Productions, Inc.
www.bestmagazinecincinnati.com
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Seven dollars
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Best Magazine is printed on recycled paper
Oakwood
The Sammarcos of Clifton
Story by Doug Sandhage / Photos by Craig Thompson
HE WAS, AS THE SICILIANS SAY, “STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.” Jim was in his 40s, eager
as a I want-to-be-a-very-successful orthopaedic surgeon could be, to see patients, to help
them walk better, or, in some cases, again. He has always been driven, he says, a Type A.
There was one day he was particularly rushed at Cincinnati’s Deaconess Hospital. Always
particular and precise in preparing his patient’s charts, he was busy writing instructions
when he happened to glance over at the nurse’s station to check the time.
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Frequently mentioned as one of the most beautiful custom-built staircases in the U.S.A., Jim Sammarco says it is probably the biggest reason
why he was convinced to buy the house. He wanted to see his daughters
walk down the stairway in their wedding gowns. No such luck…yet, he
adds. The staircase has a “Ruskinian style of freedom” to it. John Ruskin
was an art critic and social thinker who proposed in the 1800s, says
Ruthann, that “design should never allow the eye to get dull. Make things
so that you can always keep people’s interest. That’s how Henry Probasco
wanted the staircase to be: ornate, interesting and non-repeat. It’s like
giving an artist a palette to see what they can do with it.” The staircase
was hand-carved in Cincinnati from Oak and took 3 ½ years to complete.
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Page 66: Since there appears to be few written descriptions or photos of the Oakwood’s unique rotunda,
one can only imagine the elegant parties and dances
that took place here. “It is an architectural delight,”
says Ruthann Sammarco, noting that it is a round room,
not detectable from the outside. The home’s four bedrooms – including one they named the Lincoln Bedroom – emanate from the rotunda. Niches in the
rotunda once housed marble statuary that the Probascos purchased in Europe in the 1860s giving it the feel
of an art gallery. Photographer Craig Thompson shot
the image from the minstrels’ gallery .
A
tall, beautiful nurse caught his eye, just as she was removing
her cap, having had a long day herself on the hospital floor.
Ruthann’s long blonde hair dropped over her shoulders,
the light catching the side of her face as she stretched her
arms to greet a patient. It was as if she was casting a net,
perhaps to catch someone who could share her enthusiasm
for people. Jim was caught – lightning fast.
For nearly 30 years the romance has continued, but for
17 of those Jim and Ruthann have shared a partner, a really
big one – a castle. They are the 7th stewards of the home
built by Henry Probasco, once one of Cincinnati’s most
wealthiest persons.
This is a house you HAVE TO LOVE to live here. At
151 years since construction began, there is not a stone, not
a room, not a creek in the floorboard, not a moulding, not
a richly detailed carving that doesn’t need tender loving
care. And lots of time well beyond the means, or the interest, of most of us.
Ruthann would never have dreamed – growing up in
the northern Kentucky suburbs of Ft. Mitchell and Ft.
Wright – she would one day live in a castle. Nor probably
did Jim, an import from the Garden State, though he might
have had some aspirations to such from his days as a boy
opera singer.
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Best Magazine spent two full days with Jim and Ruthann
Sammarco touring their 8,500 sq. ft. mansion in Clifton
and sitting down for this interview in their ornately adorned
living room. Into one of the capitals in the archway is carved
the date 1862, the year the builder finished this room designed by architect William Tinsley. Jim served our foursome
a bottle of Chambolle-Musigny burgundy taken from his
nearly 2,000-bottle collection, housed in the temperaturecontrolled wine grotto in the basement.
The first question, we wondered, is where do we start,
other than to enjoy the wine. Jim suggested we start slowly,
to allow the wine time to breathe.
Why? was our first question. After they married in 1982,
Jim and Ruthann purchased a 2-story “classic Tudor” in
Clifton. “We were very happy living there,” says Ruthann,
fondly remembering raising an entourage of five children. Jim
was often away, traveling around the world lecturing on the
ins and outs of feet and ankles, his specialty.
But then they saw the house. Ruthann had been to
Probasco Castle – better known as Oakwood – on several occasions for some teas. Jim recalls saying: “It’s a nice place to
visit, but we wouldn’t want to live there.” Oakwood owners
#6, Carol and Bill Nagel, lived here for 23 years but it was
time to move on. They left behind a magnificently restored
Mention the Probasco Castle, and most people know it is in Clifton. Dances, parties, and
fundraisers have been held here by the hundreds, and now historical groups from all over
the country visit the 150-year-old home that Henry Probasco built during the time of Lincoln.
William Tinsley, whose initials are carved in the portico, was the first known architect to
unite limestone and sandstone in the construction of a suburban residence. The 8,500+
square foot home is two stories, topped with a belvedere, topped with a weathervane with
the initials HP. Some of the neighborhood kids think it stands for Harry Potter.
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When Jim and Ruthann Sammarco have fundraisers in Oakwood, the
Music Room (so named based on musical instruments carved into the
fireplace mantle) usually comes alive with sounds from the Steinway
grand piano, in the family since Jim’s childhood. The room also serves
as a “great morning room,” says Ruthann, “because of all the morning
sun filtering through the windows.” Bev Hafemeister, of Vintage Valences and who also works with the Taft Museum, did the window treatments based on drawings of arched windows and how they were
treated in the 1860s when the home was built. Ruthann restored and
painted the plaster cornice which depict species of ferns and ivys from
the original gardens of Mrs. Probasco.
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It took more than nine months to restore Oakwood’s master bedroom. When cutting through the dropped ceiling, an aging plaster cornice decorated with acorns and cherries was discovered
and recreated by Ruthann Sammarco, who learned the technique
from books, and by talking with an expert in Columbus who does
mould making. A local artist hand-painted the Hydrangea border
to replicate the home’s original design. “Old homes like this can
handle multiple colors and patterns,” says Ruthann.
The living room, once housing floor-to-ceiling shelves for more than a thousand books from Henry Probasco’s rare collections, is where
Jim and Ruthann Sammarco spend most of their time. The ceiling was originally frescoed by Frances Pedretti, an Italian artist well known
for his work in public buildings, and later recreated by a prior owner after it had significantly deteriorated. The corbels around the ceiling were carved from oak and each reflect a non-repeat naturalist design, such as flowers, fruit, ivy and grains. Jim and Ruthann often
play Scrabble in the living room niche (shown on the cover of this issue), one of four similar niches in the home.
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home that somehow changed Jim’s feelings. He and Ruthann
took ownership in 1994. Perhaps, says Jim, the final decision
to buy was based on his vision of seeing his two youngest girls
“walk down the staircase in their wedding dresses.”
Oakwood was completed in 1865. The cost: about
$500,000 in 1860 dollars, says Jim. It took five years to
complete; 3½ of that to finish what Jim says is one of the
finest staircases in the U.S.A.
“There is so much history here you don’t have to
scratch deep to find it. This home has integrity. It is what it
is,” says Jim, who grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey.
“You have to like old homes to appreciate them.”
We wondered, as has every kid on the block who sees
the HP initials carved into the weathervane, high above the
belvedere – thinking they stand for Harry Potter, if there
are secret passageways in the home. Ruthann says her own
searches, explorations by the couple’s five grandchildren,
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Oakwood has seen many changes over its 150 years of existence, but none more than this room, originally Mrs. Probasco’s parlor. It was later converted to look like a hunting lodge with a massive natural stone fireplace and trophy heads of elk, deer, moose;
suits of armor; and Indian artifacts. Current owners Jim and Ruthann Sammarco, making use of an inherited pool table, made it
into a poolroom and art gallery, featuring many objects found on their trip to New Guinea in the early 80s. Behind the huge door
leading to this room, the Sammarcos enjoy the following words carved into the wood: Old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old
friends to trust, a truce to care.
and historic descriptions suggest not. Sometimes a Great
Horned Owl will roost on the weathervane says Jim, where
the initials really stand for Henry Probasco.
Visitors are frequent to Oakwood. The estate has
served as host to hundreds of parties, fundraisers and family get-togethers in its century-and-a-half of existence. Regulars also include members of assorted architectural history
associations, including the Smithsonian Institute and the
Victorian Society in America.
If you visited Oakwood as a fly on the wall, you would
probably see Ruthann on a ladder or on her knees maintaining or further restoring some aspect of the couple’s
continually aging home. Much of the work she has already
completed herself – from painting, to fabricating new plaster mouldings. “I learned from my Dad; watching him do
it. He was a handyman. I like the challenge and knowing
that I can do it.” About Jim she says: “He can pin a hip, but
don’t give him a paintbrush.”
Someday Jim and Ruthann will leave Oakwood. Jim, who
likes to kid, says he will be looking for a “place with all white
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walls and nothing on them, very modern, with all large windows.” The new owners of Oakwood may need to be handpicked, he adds, noting that he is fairly certain he and Ruthann
were personally chosen by previous owner Carol Nagel. “They
chose us; they didn’t call anyone else. They knew of no other
couple who would be so attendant to its needs.
“The next owner of Oakwood will need to be someone
who will respect the integrity of the house and property,”
says Jim. “Someone who has sensitivity, who recognizes the
historical significance to appreciate it, and be a good steward so that, over time, when they pass it along, it will be in
its present state or improved upon. And someone who
won’t paint the woodwork.”
Many children were raised in Oakwood, including the
fab-five of Ruthann and Jim.
The couple, who clearly enjoy sharing Oakwood’s stunning history and architecture, have certainly done their part
to keep it as it was meant to be – a family home. Henry
Probasco would be proud.
One can never have enough corkscrews, and once you start a collection, everybody contributes, says Jim Sammarco. “It
started in the 80s when we visited a restaurant with a corkscrew theme,” says Ruthann. “This room is Jim’s. He loves to research wine.” When the Sammarcos moved into the home, the basement was a “dungeon. It was filled with a coal; it was
morbid looking.” Fortunately, the herringbone designed brick floor was salvageable, the rotting stairs were replaced, and
a good cleaning job made the space a fun get-a-way. By last count, more than 1,000 corkscrews and nearly 2,000 bottles
of wine inhabit the wine grotto. Jim personally applied the wallcoverings with wooden wine boxes.
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Oakwood
The Short Story Version
Above: Over the 150 years since it was built, thousands of curious individuals, families and groups have toured Oakwood and
been entertained by its massive hand-carved wooden features,
mammoth fireplaces, ornate cornices, and hand-painted details.
Today, Jim and Ruthann Sammarco enjoy the dining room niche
for their morning coffee and breakfast. The antique chandelier
was originally fueled by gas but was converted to electric in 1870.
If you really want to get someone’s attention, bake them a loaf
of bread, says Ruthann Sammarco (right). “A loaf of freshly
baked bread makes people happy. It’s something that tastes really good and you don’t get everyday. It’s more personal.”
Ruthann says her mother taught her beginning at age 10 how to
bake “and I just carried it over into my adult life. I bake about
every three days now; four loaves at a time and I’ll usually drop
some off to our neighbors as a treat.” Ruthann was the subject
of a recent newspaper article in Chautauqua, New York, where
the couple have a summer home. Because she is known for personally giving a loaf of bread to Chautauqua Institution donors
she calls on, the headline on the article read: It was the yeast
she could do.
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• Henry Probasco came to Cincinnati in 1835 to work for
Tyler Davidson, who then owned a dry goods store. He
became a partner in 1840. He and Davidson did well and
became quite wealthy.
• In 1859, Probasco chose some land in Clifton – then a
burgeoning “bedroom community” – to build an estate
home. The land was accessible only by horseback or carriage from downtown.
• Several architects were consulted. Probasco chose William
Tinsley who had come to America from Ireland only eight
years prior. Cincinnati historian Walter E. Langsam calls the
style chosen by Tinsley “an outstanding American example
of the rare Mid-Victorian Norman Revival – a branch of the
Gothic Revival – applied to a large scale residence.” It has
also been called Norman Romanesque. The view from the
then 30-acre grounds included the Miami Erie Canal and
the Mill Creek Valley.
• Oakwood – its name derived from its massive use of red
and white oak interior features – was completed in 1865,
the same year in which Probasco’s partner Davidson
died and Probasco sold the business they together built.
Probasco and his wife, Julia – a half-sister of Davidson –
moved in. A year later they traveled extensively to Europe where marble statues from well know sculptors and
rare books for the library were purchased.
• Four of the rooms in Oakwood are dated, via carving,
with the year in which they were completed and the initials of architect William Tinsley.
• Not wanting to forget his partner Davidson, Probasco
commissioned a foundry in Germany to design what is
now known as the Tyler Davidson Fountain on Fountain
Square in downtown Cincinnati. It was unveiled in 1871.
• In the years to follow, Probasco served on the boards of
the Public Library and the Orphan Asylum; as mayor of
Clifton; and benefactor for Calvary Episcopal Church in
Clifton (of which is still in use). Architect friend Tinsley
designed the tower for the church. In 1886 Probasco’s
fortunes turned, wife Julia died, and he started to dispose of the home’s many collections. He did remarry –
Grace Sherlock, a neighbor’s daughter 30 years his junior, and together they enjoyed two children; Grace and
Henry Jr. By 1890, things turned significantly downhill
and the couple moved to a smaller house in Clifton.
Henry Jr. died of lead poisoning in 1901; Probasco died
in 1902.
• Llewellyn Bodman Reakirt, a native born Cincinnatian,
was Oakwood’s second owner. He changed the appearance from Victorian to English Baronial. Radiators were
added for heat. He, and two wives (he divorced both)
lived here for 23 years.
• Evangelical Synod of Northern America, a training center
for Christian Services, owned Oakwood from ’23 to ’29.
• Elmer J. Niemes, owner of a local heating and plumbing company, bought it in 1929, just prior to the Great
Depression. In order to make ends meet, Niemes sold
off all but one-acre of the 30 in the estate. The lots were
named Oakwood Subdivision.
• Next Up: William Dammerall. He purchased Oakwood
in 1938 and was appointed an Assistant U.S. District Attorney. He and wife Elizabeth raised five children and a
pair of Irish wolfhounds in the home. World War II
caused hardships for nearly everyone and the Dammeralls found it hard to manage such a big house, but
stayed until the marriage of their youngest daughter.
• Oakwood then stood empty for about five years. Cincinnati contractor William Carroll, doing work nearby, rescued the house in 1965 and presented his wife, Mary
Jane, the key to the castle as a Christmas present. The
couple, their five children, and parents moved in and significant restoration began.
• In 1970, the Carrolls sold Oakwood to William Nagel who
owned a flour mill. Carol Nagel, William’s wife, had grown
up the Clifton area. They moved in with two kids and a cat.
• In the 23 years the Nagels lived here, they restored Oakwood to incorporate features of the original estate and
to provide for modern day living.
• Jim and Ruthann Sammarco purchased Oakwood in
1994. It was one of Cincinnati’s first homes to be placed
on the National Register of Historic Places.
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What Jim learned from Ruthann about doctoring
“She instructed me on how to be polite to patients. How to listen.
People need time with their doctor.”
Ruthann’s first fundraiser
“I was on a parent’s committee for Mercy Montessori in East Walnut Hills. Sister Jacinta, the principal of the school, said she needed
a 15-passenger van costing $14,000 – there were about 15 kids in
each class at the time. ‘Well, let’s do a fundraiser’ I said. I had never
done one before so we put our heads together. We decided to do
a western themed, square dance sort of event. We made our own
centerpieces on a no budget budget. We ended up making
$18,000. I thought we were going to have to pick Sister Jacinta off
the floor. That started my emphasis on fundraising. I got the confidence I could do this.”
Jim’s favorite of the four books he has written to date
The Foot in Diabetes, a medical textbook.
Title of book Jim and Ruthann would each like to write
Jim: My Life as a Rodent, preceded by the Great American Novel, he kids.
Ruthann: If I Had Only Listened to My Mother.
Honestly, how many people does it take to keep Oakwood clean
about us
Professions / extra-curricular passions
Jim: Born Giacomo James Sammarco. Presently he is on the staff of
Cincinnati Sports Medicine as an orthopaedic surgeon, specializing
in diseases of the foot and ankle; is a Volunteer Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery for the University of Cincinnati Medical Center;
serves as a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery for Tulane University
School of Medicine; and since 1985 has been Co-Director of Fellowship In Adult Reconstructive Foot and Ankle Orthopaedic Surgery.
Want to know more? Check out Jim’s 57-page Curriculum Vitae at
www. cincinnatisportsmed.com/pdf/GJSCV.pdf
Ruthann: Formerly an orthopaedic nurse for Cincinnati’s Deaconess
Hospital, she turned to being a full-time mother and a go-to volunteer after she and Jim married in 1982. “I loved staying home with
my kids, but I had to do something else too. I needed an outlet.”
Ruthann volunteers for numerous organizations, including the
Alzheimer’s Association of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Opera, and Deaconess Hospital.
“Everyone who comes through the door I give them a dust rag,”
laughs Ruthann. “With just me and Jim here, it’s no big deal. But
when the kids were here, I had live-in help.”
Something few know about Jim
Jim was a member of the Boychoir School of Princeton, a boarding
school with a national touring group of soprano voices. He once
played Amahl in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and even served as
the under-study for the TV production of the one-act opera.
Sunday morning routine
Jim: “We go to church on Saturday evening, so that means we
can hang out on Sunday morning. We have our coffee and
breakfast, an egg beater omelet or French toast. We’ll read the
newspaper and sit in the dining room or the parlor. We sit and
talk about an hour about various things. We have a pretty active
lifestyle and often we’ll have been to a fundraiser the night
before. We then call the children and see if the grandchildren
are available to come over. We are spur of the moment type of
people; ask any of our friends.”
Two weeks each month Jim…
Teaches at Tulane, supervises free clinics, and performs orthopaedic
surgeries in the New Orleans area.
Children and the “two words” Ruthann uses to describe them
Alissa: Attorney for O’Connor Acciani & Levy in Cincinnati.
“Focused and competent.”
Jim: Orthopaedic surgeon for Cincinnati Sports Medicine. “Skilled
and experienced.”
Alex: Analyst for Stark Investments, Milwaukee. “Gentle and accomplished.”
Annie: Third year medical student at Tulane. “Inquisitive and caring.”
Natalie: Living in Nanjing, China; graduate of John Hopkins Business School. “Creative and adventurous.”
Jim’s favorite orthopaedic joke
“If it doesn’t fit, force it. If it still doesn’t fit, force it some more.”
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Travel time
Jim has lectured on the six of the seven continents in the world during his 37 years as an orthopaedic surgeon. Today he prefers to
travel only in the accompaniment of Ruthann. “People in other
countries have been very kind to us,” says Jim.
About his thought of a daughter coming down the staircase in her
wedding dress
So far, one of the couple’s three daughters has married, and she did so
before Jim and Ruthann moved into Oakwood. Jim’s vision of seeing
one of his daughters walk down the castle’s stunningly carved staircase
still is on his mind. “And by golly, she better,” he adds.