Famed ‘Circus House’ in disrepair, foreclosure
The “Circus House,” one of central Ohio’s most prominent homes, has descended into disrepair as its owner wrestles with bankruptcy and foreclosure.
The house, overlooking Goodale Park in Victorian Village, is empty and stripped of some of the interior trim and details that made the property so distinctive.
Built by circus impresario Peter Sells in 1895, the home at 755 Dennison Ave. stands out with its steeply pitched tile roof, pair of round firstfloor rooms, flared roof line resembling a tent and pointed brick details mimicking the fringe of a circus tent.
“This is truly a one-of-akind home that is as important as it is admired,” said Becky West, executive director of the preservation group Columbus Landmarks.
The home served a string of purposes before being returned to a single-family residence in the 1990s. After two owners spent a small fortune restoring the home, Columbus businessman Weston Wolfe bought it in December 2016 for $1.55 million.
Wolfe, now 42, put his own touches on the five-bedroom, 7,400-square-foot home. He installed a pool next to the home, finished a second-floor bathroom and added a third-floor kitchen.
But court records show that the house exacted a steep price.
In June, after selling his business, Wolfe Insurance Group, Wolfe put the home on the market, saying he was planning to move to the West Coast.
After failing to find a buyer, Wolfe filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August, claiming debts of $2.7 million and assets of $2.5 million, nearly all of it from the Circus House. Among the debts are three mortgages, including the first one for $1.1 million with Huntington Bank.
Wolfe declined to comment on the advice of his attorney.
In January, Huntington
Bank foreclosed on the property and is asking the court to allow foreclosure to proceed so the home can be sold.
“We have secured the home, and we take seriously the historical significance and responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the property,” a Huntington spokeswoman said.
Peter Sells, whose family owned Sells Brothers Circus in Columbus, commissioned central Ohio’s premier architect at the time, Frank Packard, to design the home.
Packard came up with a stew of Gothic, Chateauesque, Romanesque and mission styles.
“The Sells house is one of the most fascinating examples of the extraordinary architectural legacy of Frank Packard and a historical landmark of the Sells Circus,” West said.
Since being restored, the house has appeared on home tours and hosted prominent gatherings, including an After School All-Stars event with Arnold Schwarzenegger in March 2017.
Wolfe bought the home from Fritz and Karina Harding, who had added custom touches throughout including circus-tent fabric on a parlor ceiling, stainless steel kitchen panels stamped in diamonds like a circus clown’s outfit, elephant head brackets anchoring a foot railing under the kitchen counter, and custom furniture in some of the rooms.
Today, much of the trim work appears to be gone, and the house is empty. A large padlock secures the front door, and a note from a security company is taped to a front window. According to those familiar with the property, vandals have broken into it at least once.
Harding and West said they hope a new owner can return the home to glory and perhaps place it on the National Register of Historic Places.
“If you look at what it would require to be on the National Register, it hits all of those — significant events, association with significant people, and it embodies a distinctive architectural type, and its important to our city’s history,” said Harding, who has been active in historic preservation, including serving on the board of Heritage Ohio.
“On any of those levels, it would be a National Register property,” he added. “The home itself is both architecturally complex and whimsical.”
Harding said that even though the home has served commercial purposes in the past, he hopes it can remain a single-family residence.