138 East North Broadway
138 East North Broadway. Ralph Taylor Van Ness (1902-1989) and his wife Norma Thorp Van Ness (1910-2000) bought this house from North Broadway Methodist Church in 1960 and remodeled it.
Their daughter Margaret Van Ness (now Margaret Nelson) is shown on the porch.
Margaret writes,
Father dug out the basement and built his office downstairs. We lived next to the warden of the State Penitentiary. One time we bought a set of golf clubs from the warden’s sister. Another time, when my parents found an old safe in the attic of the garage, my father asked the trustees if there were any safe crackers amongst them. The answer: “No, Doc, but maybe next week.” My parents sent the safe to a company that could open it, so, we’ll never know if there was a treasure or a treasure map inside! Living on the other side of us was Arch Heck, a professor at Ohio State University, in charge of the Fulbright program, bringing students from abroad to study at OSU. Thus, my parents became hosts to several students, one from Nepal who, he told them, slept on the floor rather than messing up the bed.
The Van Nesses lived at this address until 1971. It has been significantly remodeled and expanded since the Van Ness time.
[Photos and narrative courtesy of Margaret Van Ness Nelson]