Hey Gang,
Recently business has picked up. Gas goes up, things slow down, gas goes down, things pick up, do you think there's a connection?
One of the new accounts I picked up is actually from a previous customer. I had cleaned their empty rental years ago. They decided to get rid of their cleaning person and hire an outside janitorial service.
The properties I'm maintaining are on Prospect Ave. in downtown Cleveland. Both are historical houses. One is a brownstone built in the early 1900's and the other is the Jeremiah Ensworth House built in 1870. It was exciting to get to clean these old places.. I must of passed these houses dozens and dozens of times but never noticed them.
I didn't get a chance to snap a photo of the outside of the brownstone, next time I will. The place is in dire need of a complete restoration but still it is in decent enough shape to tell that at one time it was a very fine home for some well to do individual.. I don't know much of the history of it other than its one of the few remaining brownstones in Cleveland.
What I found amazing is how thin the house is and the stairs are very narrow. I wonder how did they ever get furniture to the upper rooms? I just can't imagine living in a house with that many stairs and climbing them all day every day.
The Jeremiah Ensworth house has been researched and printouts of the history are available. According to this paper it is one of the few remaining examples of a single family home from the post Civil War era on the east side of Cleveland.
I don't have a count but its amazing how many rooms there are in this house. I was told to clean each floor and every time I thought we had finished a floor we found another door that led to another room.
In both houses every room has a fireplace and each were different. Some were all marble, others were brick or wood. It must of been so cold years ago. Heating by fireplaces and then by coal in a tall house with 12 foot ceilings, brrrrr. This is kind of funny. When Mr. Kramer, the current owner, bought the Ensworth house, he thought it had horse stalls in the basement. They weren't, it was stalls for the coal that was delivered. It must of took an awful lot of coal to heat the place.
Jeremiah Ensworth was born in 1818. He was a principal in the firm of Fogg, Ensworth and Company Importers. During the Civil War he responded to the call of President Lincoln and was promoted to Captain. After the war he returned to his business and built the house. He died in 1883 of Brights disease. His wife sold the house and it became a boarding house in the early twentieth century, then it was a haberdasher with the owner living upstairs, in the 60's a fraternity stayed in it, and now it is the law offices of Kramer and Associates.
If ever in Cleveland and want to drive by the houses, the addresses are 3214 Prospect Ave. for the Jeremiah Ensworth House and the brownstone is 3655 Prospect Ave..
You know.... I just can't end this story with out writing about the head secretary for Kramer and associates, Madeline. I couldn't figure out how to include her but it wouldn't be complete without doing so. I enjoyed talking with Madeline. She is very friendly and likable, proper but not stiff. Her demeanor just seemed to suit the house, from her dress to her manners. I can actually imagine her living in the place.
There, now the story is complete.
Gotta GoGo!!
Carey
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