Clocks & Crime

Vast Italian Renaissance style mansion in Cincinnati, Ohio for sale for less than £500,000; it was built for a clockmaker, home to Burt Reynolds’ first wife’s lawyer and more recently a convicted sexual offender

Built in 1908 from Indiana limestone with an overhanging roof of red tiles and grilled windows, the ‘Herschede Mansion’ in North Avondale, Cincinnati was designed by the architect Samuel S. Godley (1858 – 1941) and constructed by James Griffith & Sons Company.

Named after the  wealthy jeweler and clockmaker, Frank J. Herschede who commissioned it, the vast 8,502 square, three storey house is described as being a “unique mixture of [the] Greek Revival and Italian Renaissance Revival” styles and is also noted for its “intricately carved mahogany interior.”

Later used as a funeral hall and in the early 1980s as the offices and residence of a lawyer named Phil Pitzer – who represented Burt Reynolds’ first wife, the actress Judy Carne, during her trial for possessing heroin – ‘3886 Reading Road’ (as it is more simply known) was purchased by a car salesman named Dale C. Schlanser and his wife Emma in 1986.

After his wife died circa 2010, Mr. Schlasner placed the house for sale for the plainly ambitious sum of £735,000. Later, in March 2014 after reducing the price to just £424,000, he told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Brent Coleman:

“I used drive by [the ‘Herschede Mansion’] on my way to work. Jeez, I thought, it looks like the French Embassy… I told my wife that the house is so beautiful inside and in such good repair. Let’s buy it. We moved here in 1986 and I’ve been here ever since.”

In June 2014, the house finally sold for £331,000 and in the time since it appears that a man named  Ian D. Reynolds – an individual convicted of assault in the second degree with a sexual motivation in the state of Washington in 2006 – has been amongst the listed occupants. In November 2014, Reynolds attempted to remove his sexual predator classification in the Ohio First District Court of Appeals and failed. It is not known where this predator currently lives.

Now, after plainly being lavishly refurbished, in November 2018, the 7 reception rooms 7 bedrooms, 5 bathroom mansion is for sale again. This time offered by Adam Sanregret of agents Coldwell Banker West Shell, the detached house is described as being in a “thriving and redeveloping” neighbourhood and featuring “elegant old world craftmanship.”

The ‘Herschede Mansion’ is priced at £466,000, stands on a plot of 0.72 acres and comes with a five car garage with chauffeur’s quarters above.

The Names & Numbers – Herschede Mansion, 3886 Reading Road, North Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio, OH 45229, United States of America

November 2019 – For sale for £466,000 ($599,000 €545,000 or درهم2.2 million) through agents Coldwell Banker West Shell.

June 2014 – Sold for £331,000 ($425,000, €386,000 or درهم1.6 million), 55% less than the original asking price Mr. Schlanser sought.

September 2012 – Reduced in price to £424,000 ($545,000, €496,000 or درهم2 million).

Circa 2010 – Placed for sale for £735,000 ($945,000, €859,000 or درهم3.5 million) by Dale C. Schlanser after his wife’s death.

1986 – Purchased by Packard car salesman Dale C. Schlanser and his wife Emma.

1979 – Sold to defense attorney Phil Pitzer according to Cincinnati Magazine and described as providing a “perfect backdrop for all the beautiful artifacts and furnishings he has collected.” In addition to living there, Pitzer and his partners used the building as their offices. Pitzer’s most famous case was that of the English actress Judy Carne (1939 – 2015), a woman best known for her marriage to Burt Reynolds and for the phrase of “Sock it to me!” in the NBC sketch comedy Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.

1908 – Built for Franz J. ‘Frank’ Herschede (1857 – 1922) and his wife Lisette ‘Sadie’ Rattermann (1855 – 1950) as a home for themselves and their eight children. Mr. Herschede began his career as an apprentice watch and clock repairman and had founded the Herschede Hall Clock Company in 1902 (the firm ultimately ceased to operate in 1967).

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