A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT

tanneries. The wood could be used for charcoal and the bark was a source of glucoside, both necessary inleather tanning. Originally this was named Inez Street.The Fifties - Teakwood Acres, A Neighborhood History 21In the 1930’s, 15 acres were owned by Judge Coleman Avery (which became the Paul Brother’sproperty). Described by Mr. Edwin Van Leunen, as a ‘wealthy, retired lawyer,’ his only access to theproperty was a lane leading north off North Bend Road across from his home. The late Mrs. DorisWilmes remembered a barn, a creek in a field, and blackberries on a fence on this property. Neighborsremember that Judge Avery married a young woman and their marriage was troubled, and one morninghe shot and killed her, then called the police, and killed himself - he wanted to make sure none of herrelatives inherited any of his estate. When the property went up for sale, a relative of Mrs. Van Leunenbought it and leased it to Mr. Edwin Van Leunen, who was in the landscape gardening business. Theyused it for a nursery from the mid-1930’s until they moved away from the neighborhood in 1959.The Van Leunen family bought the house at 6300 Edwood (now at the corner of Wionna) in 1934,from the Lang Brother Builders, for $10,000. They had a small pool and formal garden on the Edwoodside. There were few homes on Edwood in the 1930’s. Just south of the Van Leunen’s were the EdWilsons - he was the developer of Edwood Avenue, which at that time was only built up for one blocknorth (to 6400, where Ray Folz, of an insurance agency lived, and later founded College Hill Savings &Loan). Other interesting people in the area - Mrs. Wilson was known as ‘Auntie Wilson,’ an eccentriclady who took a wheelbarrow of manure up and down the street to put on trees that her family hadplanted. She also hung clothes out on the line but couldn’t wait for them to dry, so she moved the clothesprop back and forth to fan the clothes, hoping they would dry faster. Her daughter, Hazel, had an all-girlorchestra and was a favorite of all the children on the street. Adjoining the nursery property was the fieldowned by Miss Bann, whose house faced North Bend Road. She was an elderly retired schoolteacher whotraveled around the world.The Van Leunen family sold their house in 1959 for $25,000 to Mr. & Mrs. Donovon. The LangBrothers purchased the nursery property with the intention of developing it. They signed an agreementwith Jack Wittekind Jr. in 1960 who agreed to buy the plots, which were developed with by Lang,promising to build 75 homes. The first model home in Teakwood Acres Subdivision was opened onAugust 27, 1961. Wittekind built 34 homes on Teakwood Court and 32 - 34 on Wionna Avenue. He losthis option in 1963 and received lots in other neighborhoods from Lang in exchange. Other builderscompleted the last 8-10 lots on Wionna, the only name mentioned was an Earl Alburger, builder.Altogether, from 1947 to 1983, Jack Wittekind built over 300 homes in College Hill and surroundingareas. His father had been a brick contractor, and uncles had real estate in the late 1920’s. During theDepression they began to build houses to sell, building many homes on Wittlou, Wittekind, Heitzler andBirchwood.$5,000,000 Subdivision Planned 22Homes in College Hill Tract to Cost Upward of $30,000, Wood SaysBy Bernard Boer, Business News EditorPlans for development of a 65-acre tract in Lakewood Subdivision, College Hill, with ultimateexpenditure of more than $5,000,000, was announced Saturday by Thomas E. Wood, president of theWood Realty Co.There are 120 lots in the subdivision ranging in size from a half-acre to an acre. Estimated costof the individual homes to be constructed will be upward from $30,000, Wood said.21 Written by Peggy Kehrer22 Times Star, May 9, 1953272