Skyline Drive – the street on which my parents built their second house – has been a favorite topic on this blog.
But first a little backstory. After my parents got married in 1950, my dad's grandfather generously gave them a house on W. 30th not far from Broadway. It was a very small, old house that Grandpa Esterle owned and had been renting out. But the house had never been updated, and Dad ended up wiring it and doing a lot of improvements. Eventually, my parents decided it was time to build a new one for their growing family; thus they built a house on W. 30th Street, west of Oberlin Avenue and close to Ashland Avenue. It was the house I grew up in, and I have many happy memories of it. (I wrote about a 2006 visit to that house here.)
But at some point, my parents learned that a new junior high (Masson) was going to be built, and that kids had to live south of Meister Road to attend it. So my parents decided to build another house inside that border line to make sure my siblings and I got to go to a brand new school. Thus they bought a lot on East Skyline Drive and built another house. We moved in during late 1965. (As it turns out, my siblings and I would have attended Masson Junior High even if we hadn't moved; oh well.)
How did my parents find out about the new houses going up on Skyline Drive, east of Leavitt? Back in July 1962, there were several ads in the Journal that might have caught their attention. Below is a full-page ad that ran on July 7, 1962.
In that same edition of the
Journal was this article about an Open House on East Skyline. I immediately recognized the house as being in the next block and home to the Protenic family.
A week later, this smaller ad ran on July 14, 1962. Hey, there's another 'Housewife in Paradise.'
Mom had long told the story about how the people living on Skyline Drive across Leavitt Road had fought against their elite street name being used for the continuation of the road east of Leavitt. (I'm not sure where Mom got that information.) Today, most (but not all) of the street signs in the area still say 'East Skyline Drive.' It's odd, considering that you don't see East Meister Road – a named road that crosses Leavitt just like Skyline does.
As for the house in the Open House ad, it still looks pretty much the same today.
Today, my family's former house on Skyline Drive is owned by someone else.
It's strange, but when I had to put it on the market in the fall of last year, I had no feelings at all about it. It had to be done, and it sold quickly. But now, the realization has finally sunk in that the house is no longer 'home' – and it bothers me.
I dream about the house a lot.
5 comments:
Hey Dan,is the house on East Skyline Drive the same house where you and your family had all of your various Oldsmobiles throughout the years?I had a "75 Cutlass back in high school and I'm looking to get me another Cutlass Supreme to relive the good old days.
Yup, it was a good thing that the driveway was long and L-shaped to accommodate all those Cutlasses (although it was pure misery to shovel in the winter). Good luck finding a vintage Cutlass, every so often I see one on the road and I just smile.
Nice post, Dan.
When we sold Mum's house, years ago, now, back in Pennsyltucky, I was happy to be rid of it. I don't miss the building, but I sure do miss the old folks.
It must be strange to live as an adult where you grew up as a kid, experiencing all the changes. It's something I've not experienced.
Looks like my dad helped build your house. He operated heavy equipment for Elmer Hume; built lots of schools, banks, and housing developments in Lorain and Amherst in the 1950s/60s/70s.
About 6-7 years after our family moved from the house we grew up in on Stanford Ave, I had the opportunity to go back through it. I was measuring for carpet installations working for Sears right when I got out of college and was looking for a job. One day I saw my old address on my route for that day.
It was pretty neat to see how the house had changed, how it was decorated, and things that I suddenly remembered that came flooding back into my head. Nostalgic to say the least. I certainly didn't have to ask why they wanted new carpet in me and my brother's old bedroom. I remember the stuff that was spilled in there.............
Post a Comment