1276 Oakridge Drive (1999)

 

This imposing brick Georgian home was built in 1931 for Samuel Slotky, founder and publisher of the weekly Heights Press, forerunner of the Sun Press. Slotky bought the property from the Shaker Heights Improvement Company owned by Oris P. and Mantis J. Van Sweringen, the developers of Shaker Heights, and this neighborhood's winding streets and gracious homes are reminiscent of parts of Shaker

 

The architect, John G. Graham, also designed several schools and the Coventry Library in Cleveland Heights and Laurel School in Shaker Heights.

 

The home's front gable accentuates the asymmetry of its facade. The handsome front door is topped by a decorative stone pediment and flanked by stone pilasters. The windows are also surrounded by decorative stone. Formal plantings of azaleas and rhododendron and a low wall of sandstone dignify the home's exterior. The wall also extends along the north side and back of the yard, and the sandstone reappears in the base of a backyard fountain.

 

Since January 1999, the owners have done extensive remodeling. They removed a door to open up the gracious center hall and reconfigured the kitchen, adding cherry cabinetry and a new floor. They discovered and replaced the window-paned door to the library. Most dramatic is the transformation of a bathroom into a large master closet and a bedroom into a cathedral-ceilinged master bathroom. The owners have completely redecorated the home, doing some of the painting and papering themselves. They favor comfortable, traditional furniture and rich, deep reds, greens, and golds.

 

The center hall is flanked by a dining room and kitchen and a living room, library, and porch. Upstairs are a study and two bedrooms, as well as guest rooms in what were once the servants' quarters.