“We just gutted everything,” she said. “But these old houses, they’ve got such great bones as long as you start pouring some love into them, you start reaping the rewards.”
Since Hurst purchased the home in 2021, a slew of updates and additions has been made to the home that include installing new plumbing, fixing the leaky basement and adding support beams, building a retaining wall and creating a yard in the front, swapping a door and window to create a mudroom, stripping the fireplace, restoring windows, removing a backyard deck, repairing plaster and renovating the bathroom.
It was the discovery of the original beautiful blue geometric tile during the bathroom renovation that Hurst said was special.
Credit: Chris West
Credit: Chris West
“I started renovating the bathroom, and then that’s when my Instagram started blowing up because we found the original floor,” she said. “I started getting a following with that, and we’ve just sort of worked our way around the house.”
Hurst said the home still has many original features, including the windows, except for two, built-in cabinets and shelves, hardwood floors, pocket doors and the original boiler that they still use in the basement.
“We have the original boiler, and it still works,” she said. “Not efficient, but she’s a workhorse for sure. We still get her serviced every year, and the company says that ours is officially the oldest one [they work on].”
The home was built circa 1915-1916 according to county records. The home has five bedrooms and two bathrooms. Originally, there were six bedrooms, but one was converted into the mudroom. One piece of the home that fascinated Hurst was the door knocker of Oren Britt Brown or O.B. Brown as he was known.
Hurst jumped online to research Brown. Brown was a judge in Montgomery County who lived in the home with his wife, Jeanette. After being a judge for 17 years, he practiced law and was also on the Flood Prevention committee following the 1913 flood. Jeanette owned the home from 1927 to 1953, according to county records. Brown died in 1940, but Jeanette remained in the home until her death. They had no children, but had several nieces.
The judge even ran for the Republican nomination for governor in 1910, but ended up losing to Warren G. Harding. James M. Cox, who founded the Dayton Daily News, was a supporter of Brown, according to a New York Times article. Hurst said she feels like she has a bond with the deceased judge.
“I feel like I somewhat am connected to Oren a little bit,” she said. “Just deep diving into the history and him not having kids, but him loving his nieces the way that I read the articles about them. I visit their graves all the time at Woodland.”
In addition to finding some old Dayton Daily News articles while renovating, Hurst found an old photo in the rafters of their garage. Again, she put her research skills and Instagram audience to good use to find out who was in the photo.
“I can’t even tell you how I did that,” she said. “Obviously, what helps is my following because I will post something, and then people who find an interest in it, they will just hit the ground running with me trying to figure things out.”
Hurst said she was able to track down Mary Coughlin, whose family member was in the photo. Hurst looked her up, and she still lived in Oakwood, so she reached out to her. According to county records, the Coughlin family lived in the home from 1955 to 2005. Hurst wanted to return the family heirloom to its rightful owner.
“She brought her granddaughter with her, and it was a nice little day,” she said. “It was a treat to get to hear all her stories … she said her grandmother lived here with them for a period of time, and always used to play piano in that room.”
Hurst also mentioned that Jeanette Brown, the judge’s wife, housed soldiers in the house during the war. She hosted a wedding for one of soldiers in the home and there’s a photo of an organ being played in the same room.
According to Hurst, Mary Coughlin eventually became a music teacher. And the music connection continues today because Hurst’s husband plays the piano.
“So, I just feel like we’re in a house that houses musicians,” Hurst said.
Hurst has been busy, currently trying to refinish all 42 windows of the home. She hasn’t been posting as much on her Instagram page but has some plans for the future of the home. She’d like to expand the upstairs bathroom, update the mudroom, update the driveway and remove some exterior stairs that go nowhere.
Hurst said that they love the neighborhood where they live because of all the different types of homes that line the streets. Hurst and her husband are “porch people” and love to be outside. They even enjoy the college kids from the University of Dayton, who do not live far.
“We find that the college students are super respectful,” she said. “And it’s cool when they’re not; it’s just funny. We loved our college years, so we know they’re just enjoying themselves. We get to walk to church and walk to lunch … there’s something so quaint and humbling about it.”
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HISTORICAL HOMES FEATURE
“Timeless Dayton” takes a look at historical homes in the region. The Dayton Daily News wants to share stories of historic homes and the journeys of restoration. Reach out to Reporter Jessica Graue at jessica.graue@coxinc.com.
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