Former Cox mansion sold in cash deal

Trails End, the mansion of former Ohio Gov. James M. Cox, has been sold in a cash deal, said real estate agents who handled the closing on Friday.

The previously bank-owned, 15,000-square-foot Kettering home of the Cox Enterprises founder sold for $271,500 in cash to a limited liability corporation, said Tracey Bitonti, who represented the bank that took over the property in a 2012 foreclosure.

Neither Bitonti nor Nancy Webb, who represented the buyers, would disclose the new owner. The purchasers are not ready to discuss the sale, Webb said. Both Bitonti and Webb are area agents with Irongate Realtors.

Dr. Suresh Gupta told the Dayton Daily News in November that he wanted to buy the mansion, but said the purchase price was too high at the bank auction.

The French renaissance-style home at 3500 Governors Trail was built in 1915. It sits on five acres and has six bedrooms, six bathrooms, two tennis courts, a billiards room and an in-ground swimming pool.

After Cox died in 1957, the property was sold and became a private club from 1958 to 1982. Danis Properties Co. Inc. bought the property in 1986 and renovated it at a cost of $2.5 million. It was again offered for sale and purchased by Charles W. Spear for $1.5 million in 2005 as a space for business meetings and events. The Bank of New York Mellon initiated the 2012 foreclosure after Spear defaulted on a $1 million note.

The property was appraised last year at $801,000 and was sold at the bank action in November to the Bank of New York Mellon for $881,875.

Cox founded the company that has become Cox Enterprises, owner of the Dayton Daily News, WHIO TV and radio, Springfield News-Sun among other businesses.

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