Tuesday, July 25, 2006

A House that's worth a look - The McFall-Rouff House

Brick Queen Anne homes are rare in New Albany. One of the most impressive could be yours soon. 1911 East Elm Street (The McFall-Rouff House) is scheduled for Sheriff's sale on August 22nd. The house would be a project - but could be spectacular in the hands of the right buyers.

Visit http://www.historicnewalbany.com/ (the sheriff's sale section) for more detail. The history of the home, prepared by David Barksdale, is below along with current and past (1909) photographs.



The McFall-Rouff House
1911 East Elm Street (Outstanding architectural rating)
Built c.1888
. Queen Anne. This beautiful brick, Queen Anne house was built between 1888 and 1889 for Charles W. McFall, a carrier for the U.S. Post Office. In his later years, Mr. McFall had a grocery at 1422 East Elm Street. In November of 1904, Dr. Hettie McFall sold the home. There were several owners before William F. Ruoff, a lawyer, purchased the house in August of 1913 and lived here for over 30 years. Mr. Ruoff died in December of 1944 and his widow, Lee, remained in the home until May of 1965.


Property will be sold at Sheriff's Sale on the 22nd day of August, 2006 at 10:00am at the Floyd County Sheriff's Department, 1st Floor, City County Building, 311 West 1st Street, New Albany, Indiana. For additional information contact Joyce Banet in the Sheriff's Office at 812-948-5408

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

NewAlbanyPreservation.com - NAHPC Website

As some regular readers may know I am a member of the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission (NAHPC). One of the duties to be carried out by the Commission is to promote public interest in preservation by carrying out public relations and education programs. Our Preservation month activities (walking tours, workshops, etc.) are examples of that advocacy campaign.

I am proud to announce we have a new tool to promote preservation in New Albany – NewAlbanyPreservation.com

Visit the site now and you’ll see news on New Albany’s upcoming Historic Home Tour. Residents of our historic districts will also be happy to see the Historic District Design Guidelines City of New Albany available for viewing online (just click the “Resource” tab on the home page).

There will be tweaking and further development in the coming months. The goal of the site is to provide guidance and technical assistance about the restoration and rehabilitation of historic buildings, design assistance and information about New Albany’s historic districts.

Along with our parent site, HistoricNewAlbany.com, New Albany can now boast of a healthy preservation web presence. It’s a darn positive trend.

The site would not have been possible without the work of Jim Sprigler – East Spring Street resident and volunteer extraordinaire. Thank you Jim.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Happy 4th of July

Have a happy and safe 4th of July.