WELLINGTON — This Old House Magazine has named Wellington a “best old house neighborhood” for 2010.
But nobody has to tell Larry Querin and other happy residents that their village is special.

Querin and his wife, Janice, can comfortably fit 50 people on the porch of their home when parades come up South Main Street.

“I just love the house,” Querin said of their circa-1900 home at Fourth and Main Street. “It’s what I call casually elegant, and I just love it.”

More photos below.

No other neighborhood in Ohio made the list in the March issue, which appeared Wednesday on newsstands and online.

Somewhat surprisingly, This Old House Magazine named The Villages neighborhood near Detroit as its top “best old house neighborhood” for 2010.

Wellington is only featured in the online article, but resident Nicole Hayes, who nominated Wellington for the honor, is tickled pink.

In fact, her “painted lady” home at 600 N. Main St. used to be known as “the pink house” until she and her husband, Brad, purchased it and painted it yellow.

A home inspector told the couple that it is “built like a tank,” she said.

Her favorite feature is probably “a beautiful floating staircase,” she said.

Hayes, director of education for the Intermuseum Conservation Association in Cleveland, said she fell in love with the old houses in Wellington after the couple landed in northern Ohio after living in other parts of the country.

Brad Hayes, a native of Pittsfield Township, works in the development office at Oberlin College, and Nicole Hayes’s organization is dedicated to art conservation and other work restoring or preserving old things.

The magazine’s “best old house neighborhood” designation for Wellington also pleased Mike Eppley, executive director of Main Street Wellington.

Eppley, who grew up in Carlisle Township, said it has always been a pleasure to drive through the village and see the beautiful old homes.

“My first reaction was, ‘Wow — what nice homes for a small town.’ I was always impressed with the beauty of downtown and South Main Street,” he said.

But this isn’t the first time the village’s selection of 19th- and early 20th-century architecture has been in the spotlight.

Two years ago, thousands of people went on a self-guided walking tour of 28 historic buildings developed by Ginger Mateer, Mary Lou Rapp, Sara Eastman and Patti Young.

Included on the tour were examples of Greek revival, Gothic revival, Italian villa, Italianate, stick style, and arts and crafts home construction.

Young, whose family runs Wellington Implement, said there was plenty of money in Wellington after the railroad came through and lumber company owners, cheese barons, cattlemen and industrialists made their fortunes.

Young, who lives in a 1956 Sears home, said she enjoys driving by the homes on Main Street while going to work.

She got a little spoiled for spectacular architecture while living for a time in New Orleans, but the architecture in Wellington rivals it, she said.

But still, the best part of the village is its people, she said.

“I just like the fact I know everybody and everyone waves,” she said.

From the This Old House Web site:

Wellington, Ohio

Wellington is a quaint and quiet northern Ohio town of about 4,700 people. For much of its history it was known for one thing: cheese. In 1880 there were more than 40 cheese factories in the area, and that’s precisely when this town’s population more than doubled. The town pays homage to its “cheesy” history each summer during the beloved Cheese Heritage Festival. Today, Wellington is known as a perfect get-away-from-it-all small town where people enjoy a peaceful rural life with many festivals and other activities, including the annual Lorain County Fair, one of the largest in the state.

The houses

Wellington’s architecture is so diverse that many colleges conduct field trips here for their architecture majors. Most homes reflect the Victorian era: Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Folk Victorian, Shingle Style, and Colonial Revival. For $150,000 to $200,000, you can buy just about any available house in Wellington.

Why buy now?

The town offers small-town living with zero pretentiousness at bargain-basement prices. Wellington is just 50 miles from Cleveland and 15 minutes from Oberlin, Ohio, home to Oberlin College and its world famous Conservatory of Music. A farmer’s market is starting up this summer, so foodies will have plenty of locally sourced ingredients to choose from.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

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