MOUNT VERNON — The charming, red brick Loveridge house looks much the same today as it did when it was completed in 1832. The 176-year-old, two-story home, the architecture of which reflects influence from a Georgian style that has English origins, is set back from Lower Green Valley Road, and surrounded by big, old, silver maple trees. It sits on the rich fields of soil now called Green Valley. The house has been owned by Tom and Susie Fish since 1991.
The Loveridge House is one of 16 homes in Ohio recommended for nomination to the National Register of Historic places. Getting the nomination has been a long, drawn-out process of collecting documentation and inspections — twice — by the Preservation Office of the Ohio Historical Society. Tom Fish has been getting paperwork and applications together, including many photographs, color and black and white. The Fishes said the Ohio Historical Society helped with the application, including a description of the house.
To document the type of architecture the house reflects, calls were made to the New Jersey Historical Society, which authenticated the house as an example of the westward migration of settlers and house types. The Loveridge house is influenced by what are called Georgian forms, which began to appear in New Jersey during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The Georgian style was built into homes in the Mid-Atlantic region the late 1600s and early 1700s. Westward settlers brought the style of homes to Ohio.
Richard and Ann Loveridge came to Ohio from New Jersey in 1830, and bought and settled on 640 acres — a section of land that is a square mile in area. All of the land has since been sold off over the years, and the property is now only an acre in size. According to Fish, bricks for the house almost surely were made on the property. In the last few years the mortar has been tuck pointed, and the bricks — protected by a transparent, preservative chemical — still look fresh and new.
Fish said the walls are 16 to 18 inches thick for the first story; apparently, that thickness is required for strong walls. A side benefit, he said, is the brick retains heat and cold, which helps keep the house cool on hot days and warm during winter weather.
Features of the Loveridge house which characterize this early Georgian house type include its symmetrical, five-bay facade, and side gable roof with end chimneys. The two-story double-pile plan has a rear summer kitchen. Cut sandstones at the top of the windows at the front of the house are called lintels; more sandstones under the windows are called sills. They are all in original condition, with no cracks.
The foundation under the house is not large sandstone blocks as is usually seen in period houses. Instead, the foundation is laid up of many smaller stones, all mortared together. The foundation has survived the decades in its original condition.
The interior of the house has four original fireplaces, which include a large cooking fireplace in the rear wing of the house. They are still in use today, but with gas inserts. To lend authenticaticty to the old kitchen, there is an old iron cook stove.
“I grew up with this stove in a home in Carroll County,” Fish said, “and I sat on the oven door to warm my back on cold days.”
Original with the house are its window trim on the first and second floors, and mortise and tenon doors. Another interior feature is the unique staircase. The narrow steps wrap around the chimney on the west side of the house, and have two landings that turn the staircase 90 degree on each landing.
“We have added a sandstone patio and rewired the house with central air conditioning and installed a modern water system,” Fish said.
“We redecorated every room except the kitchen,” added Susie Fish.
Former owners of the property include Gomer Wolf of Mount Vernon, whose parents bought the farm in the 1930s when they had to sell their farm behind Mohawk Dam. Wolf has the original deed to the property.
“We bought the home because we like it and was drawn by the historical nature,” Tom Fish said.
Today, they still enjoy the historical significence of living in the house.
“And we get many requests for tours of the house,” Fish added.
The Fishes bought the home from Mike and Kathy Nisky, who put considerable work into the house. Nisky said he found one of the upstairs fireplaces hidden behind brickwork.
“It had to be there because of the twin chimneys at each end of the house,” Nisky said.