Did Someone Say ‘Renaissance’?

Mona and Leonardo (that would be da Vinci not DiCaprio) would be so proud. 124 Kay Dr. is located about 3 miles from the heart of Middletown’s East End/Renaissance Area, anchored by Atrium Medical Center.

This impressive investment in community development is far more than a new hospital. It’s Dayton Children’s Medical Center, the YMCA, Miami University Middletown, Sinclair Community College, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College – not to mention new roads, an improved interstate exchange, new medical and commercial office space and new shopping areas.

At 124 Kay Dr., you are perfectly positioned to drive over to the Y for a morning swim, stop for a Starbucks at the new Kroger Marketplace on your way to work, and check out Michelangelo’s statue of David –– okay, I got carried away with the Renaissance idea for a minute there.

Summer's First Day Lily

I bought this day lily several years ago from a grower near Oxford, Ohio. 

Five Things I Like about My House

1. The cathedral ceiling and hand-hewn beams in the foyer and living/dining room and the stone fireplace make the space feel like a chapel. I have altar bells on the hearth.

2. The sound of the creek in the back yard is different every day.

3. The two redbuds and daffodils in the front yard are breathtaking in the spring. I grew the smaller redbud from a seed.

4. The sitting room next to the kitchen is like a four-season tree house.

5. Birds and squirrels and butterflies . . . oh my!

Meet our new realtor, Kathy McFarland, with Real Living 

Realty Services.

High on the Hog

When we first moved to Middletown, we saw this historical marker along the side of one of the main roads about a mile from our house and thought “famous Civil War battle.” Then one day, we stopped the car, walked through the gulley and up a small hill to look. No Civil War battle. Not even close.

The marker commemorates the origin of the Poland China pig, first bred in 1816 on a nearby farm, which is now a mall. Known as the Big China, this breed boosted the swine industry in southwestern Ohio for the next 20 years. (I am not going to say it “brought home the bacon.”) Today, the big-framed, long-bodied, lean and muscular Poland China hog leads U.S. pork production in pounds of hog per sow per year. I think this story is a lot more fun than a Civil War battle.

A Blog About a House Redux

Okay, let's try this again: Welcome to 124 Kay Drive, Middletown, Ohio. My name is Jane Grant Tougas. My husband Lee and I bought this house about 15 years ago from the people who built it in the late 1970s. We are selling it now because we are downsizing and moving back to Chicago, where I grew up and where most of my family lives.

I am a writer/editor and I work at home for clients around the country. Lee is a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial. He splits his time between Cincinnati and Chicago.

But enough about us. This blog is about the house, the landscape and the neighborhood. That’s Blanche in the picture. She has been hanging around the neighborhood for a few years. We see her only in the spring and summer. She must go south for winter . . .

Earlier this week, we listed the house with Real Living. My brief attempt at "for sale by owner" was just that – brief. We are thrilled with our realtor, Kathy McFarland. More on Kathy later.

Thank you, Rita Finn, graphic designer extraordinaire, for helping me make this blog happen.