By DARLENE PRINCE
prince@crescent-news.com
A 1940-era bungalow has been chosen as the first Historic Home of the Month winner for 2009. The sparkling property is owned by Gary and Karla Mitchell and is located at 924 Washington Street in Defiance
This charming bungalow sits on land originally owned by William C. Holgate in the 1800s. Although the land was transferred numerous times prior to 1940, the best the Mitchells could discover was that the home was built by Stephen Schlientz in 1940.
Owners of the property after Schlientz were Celestial Glanke, Geneva Baringer, Stanley Baringer, Raymond Kohout, Dorothy Kohout and Eileen Shawver.
The Mitchells bought the house in September 2006 and, after many upgrades, have turned it into a beautiful home.
The house has three bedrooms (the master bedroom is large enough to be a den or game room), one bath, a 3/4-size basement, an oversize two-car garage, central heat, two jalousie storm doors, a soiled-clothes chute that goes to the basement, beautiful dark woodwork, and a wonderful brick front porch.
The Mitchells said they removed all of the overgrowth (trees and shrubs), replaced the roof, painted the interior and exterior, installed raised flower beds and added many perennial plants (some given to them by neighbors). They also seeded the lawn and installed a fenced garden patch in the back yard which grew tomato plants over 6 feet tall.
Other projects included plumbing the whole house, installing new carpeting, tiling the bathroom kitchen and pantry floors and adding new countertops.
Karla said their charming home belongs to a wonderful neighborhood which rotates around many families. On the first Halloween they lived there, they told their family it was like living in a Norman Rockwell picture. She said the house is so full of life and love.
Historic Homes of Defiance is accepting nominations for its program that recognizes older homes or commercial/public buildings in the city of Defiance. To qualify for recognition, these buildings will have had improvements to the exterior which resulted in preservation of the structure.
To nominate a home or building for the award, interested persons can fill out the nomination form on this page. Structures to be nominated must be at least 50 years old and located in the Defiance city limits.
Nominations can be sent to Shirley Rosebrock at 866 S. Clinton St., Defiance; Ralph Hahn, 901 Wilhelm St., Defiance; or Linda O'Donnell, 8651 Fox Chase Lane, Defiance.
Be sure to include a brief history of the building.
Winning nominees will have the organization's sign placed on their property for about one month.
(Karla Mitchell contributed the information about the house.)