By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Tina Frampton and her husband, Peter, returned to Cincinnati to be near her family and to have good public schools for their daughter. (Glenn Hartong photo)

Tina Frampton has something nice to say about every place she's lived.

She misses the climate in Los Angeles. Her neighborhood in Scottsdale, Ariz., was great. In Nashville, the schools and music scene were first rate.

But no matter where she went, or how long she stayed, something always seemed to be missing.

"I never felt I was home in any of those places," Frampton says. "I always felt like I was visiting."

Born and raised in Reading, Frampton began her cross-country odyssey in 1992 when she married British rock star Peter Frampton. Since Cincinnati isn't a hot spot for international rock stars, Frampton wasn't sure she'd ever come back to Cincinnati for anything but a visit.

She was surprised, though, by how much she missed the place. She had five brothers and two sisters in Greater Cincinnati and dozens of friends. She missed being able to stop by a life-long friend's house just to chat, and she missed being close to handyman brothers who could fix just about anything.

When her late father fell ill a few years ago, the family bond grew stronger. "It was obvious how much we needed each other," she says. She started talking about moving back home.

Despite his jet-setting lifestyle, her husband embraced the idea. He'd been to Cincinnati often and thought it would be a good place to raise their daughter, Mia, now 7.

They bought a house in Indian Hill, a neighborhood Tina remembered from days as a child spent with her father as he delivered milk to homes there. At the time, she couldn't imagine living among the neighborhood's big houses and green fields.

"Peter loves it here," she says. "We travel so much, and the big cities are great, but it's always great to come home."

Not everyone understands, of course. At a party earlier this year, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman recoiled at the news that Peter and Tina had moved to Cincinnati.

"Ugh," Wyman said. "I could never live there."

Peter just smiled: "It's perfect for us."