The University of Cincinnati Foundation was given thousands of dollars to maintain a historic Clifton home but has no plans to spend the money on needed repairs.

Signs along Clifton Avenue protest UC's plan to build a $2 million-plus presidential mansion with a dining and entertainment facility in the neighborhood. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        UC wants to swap the Clifton Avenue home for an abutting parcel of land so it can build a $2 million-plus presidential mansion, an elaborate dining and entertaining facility designed to host lucrative fund-raising events.

        University officials say they have no obligation to fix the historic Rawson house, even though money was donated two decades ago for that purpose.

        Clifton residents who have opposed UC's mansion proposal now are questioning the maintenance fund.

        “They never did discuss these funds,” said Michael Ramundo, who lives near the proposed mansion site. “I think it's something that causes people to wonder about their motivation.”

ABOUT THE HOUSE

The Rawsons were one of Clifton's founding families, moving to the area's pastoral setting from Mount Auburn in 1876.     They bought the yellow Victorian home, which had been built a decade earlier. The family made several improvements, adding two bathrooms and remodeling the kitchen.     Marion Rawson was raised in the home and lived there until her death in 1980. She donated the house to UC along with a trust fund to maintain the home.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Clifton Town Meeting Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Clifton Recreation Center at 320 McAlpin Ave.

        Neighbors say the once-grand 19th century yellow Victorian home — featured in a walking tour of Clifton's most elegant homes in the 1970s — is in need of repair.

        Porch boards are knocked loose. Temporary supports appear to prevent a roof from crashing onto the porch. A wide swath of the roof is rusted. The brick exterior is cracked in parts.

        Historic preservationists who want to restore the yellow Victorian were surprised to learn from the Enquirer that Marion Rawson established a fund to maintain the home that she donated to the UC Foundation in 1979. The fund was one of multiple gifts to UC from Ms. Rawson's $3.7 million estate upon her death Oct. 28, 1980, court documents show.

        UC officials didn't mention the fund when they negotiated a proposed land swap with the Cincinnati Preservation Association, according to executive director Beth Sullebarger.

        She would not say whether the revelation of the $180,000 fund will change the group's demands.

        The preservation group, which owns an open patch of land that UC seeks for the mansion, has tentatively agreed to swap the parcel for the adjacent home so it can preserve it. But it wants changes to the new lodge-like facility that UC initially proposed, saying such a design would be out of character with the neighborhood.

        “The endowment makes possible the repair and preservation of the house,” Ms. Sullebarger said, declining to elaborate.
       

UC changing plans
        UC spokesman Greg Hand said the university is making modifications to the proposed mansion to address objections. UC also is considering other areas to build the mansion, though he would offer no specifics. The university already has executed land transactions and negotiated agreements on the Clifton Avenue site.

        UC Foundation Controller Mark Bricker said he will soon transfer the $180,000 fund to the UC Board of Trustees. He doesn't know what UC will do with the money, but he said there are no current plans to fund repairs. The UC Foundation is the fund-raising arm of the university and typically accepts gifts on UC's behalf.

        “The foundation has held that property for 22 years and we have maintained it well,” Mr. Bricker said. “We've been a good neighbor.”

        He said the $180,000 fund consists of stocks, bonds and other investments that yield an annual income of $7,200. The fund's annual earnings haven't been enough to pay property taxes, landscaping and repairs, and the foundation has been forced to dip into its funds to maintain the property, Mr. Bricker said.

        Hamilton County Auditor records show annual property taxes for the home and 5.5-acre lot are $12,614. The latest payment of $6,338, due Feb. 9, hasn't been made yet, so a late charge of $633 has been assessed.

        Mr. Bricker declined to say how much UC has spent on specific repairs, adding that maintenance is also the responsibility of a tenant who rents the home at a discounted rate. He would not say how much rent is charged.

        There are no restrictions on Ms. Rawson's land and cash gifts that prevent UC from pursuing its plans, according to Mr. Bricker.

        The foundation has taken money out of the fund to maintain the property several times over the last two decades, but Mr. Hand said he didn't know how much that amounted to and what specific repairs were made. The fund started with $50,000 and has grown to $180,000 through investment, Mr. Hand said.
       

University wanted fund
        Pat Boulder, a close friend of Ms. Rawson, said it appears UC has “never done any upkeep.”

        UC told Ms. Rawson that it needed extra money to pay for repairs, taxes and upkeep before it accepted her charitable gift of property, Ms. Boulder said.

        “She told me UC would not take it (property) without money attached to it,” she said.

        Mr. Bricker wasn't around when the foundation requested Ms. Rawson set up the fund, but he said that's not unusual.

        According to Ms. Rawson's will, the fund was set up “to provide funds to assist in the maintenance and use,” of the Clifton Avenue house.

        A 1971 Enquirer article featuring a handful of Clifton homes said the Rawson home had been “maintained in grand style,” since the family moved there in 1886 from Mount Auburn.

        The home was immaculate, the article said, with its “remarkable sprawling porch structure that has crept into the 20th Century nudged lovingly by the Rawson sisters.”

        Ms. Rawson's nephew, Edward Rawson, said his aunt's love of the university was rivaled only by her passion for the home she was raised in.

        “I know my aunt was interested in conservation, but she was also interested in the university,” Edward Rawson said. “She would have liked to see the house maintained.”

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