CHAGRIN FALLS--The Sears-Adams House has a new owner.
Robert and Letran Sherman closed on the purchase of the home, at 115 E. Summit St., Aug. 9, ending months of uncertainty regarding the future of one of the village’s oldest homes.
The couple is planning an extensive renovation of the Greek Revival home built in 1844, and intend to live there once the anticipated year-long project is complete.
“I think it’s one of the better pieces of news I’ve received recently,” Mayor Tom Brick said.
Most recently serving as an administration building for Windsor Hospital, Sears-Adams and the surrounding property was purchased by developers Gary Spaeth and Robert Micco in 2008, with the house offered for sale as a private residence. No buyer came forward, and the developers filed a request for demolition in August 2011, citing the financial feasibility of restoring the house.
In response, Brick formed the Sears-Adams House Ad Hoc Committee, charged with exploring options for preservation and future use. The developers in turn granted a delay in demolition.
A detailed history of the house is available on the village's website.
Letran Sherman grew up in Chagrin Falls, and the couple first saw Sears-Adams together during a visit to her hometown in the summer of 2008. At the time knowing nothing of the house’s history or present status, they casually talked about what it would be like to live there.
“It just stood out,” said Robert Sherman, a practicing lawyer.
The Shermans would continue to admire the house during subsequent visits to the village during Robert’s leave time from the Navy, and eventually moved to Chagrin Falls with their three children from Charlottesville, Va., last summer. After seeing Sears-Adams listed during their search for a permanent home, the couple began researching the property, and were hooked by its historical significance.
“The more you learn about it, the more you appreciate it,” Robert Sherman said.
The purchase price for Sears-Adams was $182,500, and the Shermans have immediately embarked on renovations that will bring the house from an estimated living space of 2,900 square feet to 4,600 square feet, including the addition of a fourth bedroom. Robert Sherman said the project will provide needed modernization, but the house’s historical charm will remain intact.
Looking forward, Robert Sherman does not anticipate Sears-Adams’ future to be in doubt again anytime soon, as he foresees his family staying there for the long haul.
“I don’t think I would have done it otherwise,” he said of the purchase.
See more Chagrin Falls news at cleveland.com/chagrin-falls.