Family sells land that built business
As younger members try other things, Cappelli land heads to auction.
Matteo Cappelli had nothing when he arrived at Ellis Island in 1905, but built a thriving nursery business that helped provide for his family for generations.
But today much of the family’s Springfield property, which spans nearly 200 acres near South Burnett Road and Interstate 70, will be up for auction. The land was deeply intertwined with the family’s fortunes as Matteo, the family patriarch steadily built his business over several decades. But as his descendants moved on to follow their own dreams, his family recently made the difficult decision to sell the property and move on, said Julie Cappelli Balsink, who operates Cappelli’s Country Gardens at 2007 E Leffel Lane with her brother, Louie.
“It’s very bittersweet for us, but it’s time,” said Julie, Matteo’s granddaughter.
Matteo Cappelli bounced around the U.S. and northern Ohio after his arrival in New York. But he eventually moved to Springfield, where he built a business growing and selling gladiolus with his wife, Marianina and their five children. Typically, his sons worked with him in the fields while Matteo’s daughters helped at home with their mother.
Years later, his grandchildren still remember helping perform various tasks as Matteo built the business into one of the nation’s largest gladiola wholesalers. The family’s long history in Springfield was featured in a 50th anniversary issue of Newsweek in 1983. The story related the history of five families in Springfield.
Doris Weaver said she remembers selling flowers all over the south end of Springfield, while her grandfather would occasionally check in to make sure she had enough flowers in her bucket to continue selling. The farm fields that will be auctioned off next week were once carpeted with flowers, but the business eventually waned and I-70 split the property when it was built. Now, much of the farmland is rented.
As the business changed, Matteo increasingly invested in real estate and turned his greenhouse business into a garden center. His grandchildren said at the time that it was a way he could provide for his family’s future. Paul Weaver, Doris’ husband, said the property extended beyond what is now Springfield Twp. Matteo also owned land in Gallipolis, Ohio and Southern Michigan. In Springfield, he owned much of the land along Leffel Lane between Burnett and Springfield-Xenia Roads.
“My grandfather never liked the stock market,” said Debbie Goings, Matteo’s granddaughter. “So he bought land instead.”
As family members moved on with various careers and marriages, and some have moved out of state, the Cappelli family no longer relies on the property like it once did. And the six tracts available sit along a section of Springfield Twp. that will likely be attractive for potential residential or commercial development in the future, said Jeff Harvey, a Springfield auctioneer who is managing the transaction.
The difficult decision to sell the property took several months, Julie Cappelli said. The property in Springfield was a catapult that allowed Matteo’s business to thrive and expand into real estate investments elsewhere.
As the family moves on, they decided it was time to allow the property to give someone else the same kinds of chances they had, Goings said.
“This family has expanded and we wanted to give the opportunity to someone else,” Goings said. “We had the American dream, now it’s someone else’s turn.”