Circus House in the Victorian Village Gets a Refresh

On Mar 22, 2022

Paige and Jason Henry, owners of of the Victorian Village mansion

In the summer of 2020, Paige and Jason Henry were in the market for a house with a pool. The real estate market was heating up, and it limited their options. There was one house, however, that caught their eye: the iconic Circus House in Victorian Village overlooking Goodale Park.

The Henrys had toured the home a few years before when they attended the preview party for the Short North Tour of Homes & Gardens. But they never thought they’d soon become its owners.

“It never would have occurred to me that we could own a house like this,” says Jason. The couple was already enjoying the Victorian Village neighborhood while living nearby. Paige is president and owner of Dayton-based Riegel Financial, a financial planning company founded by her late father Farald Riegel. Jason retired early and fills his time serving as a guardian ad litem for Court Appointed Special Advocates, volunteering for SICSA Pet Adoption & Wellness Center, as well as being a board member for Friends of Goodale Park.

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The 127-year-old Circus House is a renowned Victorian Village mansion that overlooks Goodale Park.

Right around the time they began looking for their pool house, the Henrys discovered that the Circus House was up for auction and bids had failed to meet the minimum price. The once majestic property had suffered extensive damage both inside and out. It was scheduled for a second auction, and that’s when the Henrys placed the winning bid.

They quickly embarked on what would become a 14-month restoration project to bring the property back to its grandeur. “To think that we own it is still pretty bizarre,” Jason says.

Adds Paige, “We paid [almost] $880,000 for a fixer-upper.”

In its 127-year history, the house has been transformed multiple times after being built for circus impresario Peter Sells and his wife, Mary. Sells, with his brothers, owned the Sells Brothers Circus. It is likely no mistake that the home’s swooping rooflines somewhat resemble a Big Top. Noted Columbus architects Yost & Packard were its designers.

While Peter Sells traveled with the circus, Mary is said to have kept company at the home with William Bott, who owned Bott Brothers Billiards and Saloon—today the site of Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus. Their scandalous affair led to the Sells’ divorce, which made headlines in newspapers across the country.

After Peter Sells’ death in 1904, the home had various incarnations, once serving as House of Hope for Alcoholics and then as a lodge for the Fraternal Order of Police. United Commercial Travelers ran a society for traveling salesmen out of the house, and it operated for more than 30 years as a daycare center.

In 1997, the Brownstein family purchased the home and set about restoring it as a prominent residence. When they moved on, they passed the baton to the Harding family who bought the home and added elegant, yet whimsical, circus touches before selling the home in 2016 to Weston Wolfe. The pool was added by Wolfe before he tried to sell the home in 2019. Under Wolfe’s ownership, the home was vandalized, and then fell into disrepair before going into foreclosure.

By the time the Henrys took ownership in mid-2020, a slew of permits was needed, starting with repairing the electrical feeder wires and conduit from the meter to the house, and replacing the plumbing. Because of its historical nature, renovation and repair plans have been shared with the Victorian Village Commission.

On a walk-through of the home soon after the Henrys purchased it, Paige lamented: “We’re going to restore what we can.”

Certainly, there was a lot that needed to be done.

The 7,414-square-foot property includes five bedrooms, five full baths and two half-baths. “One of the biggest jobs—most expensive jobs—will be restoring the brickwork,” she said back then. Since starting the project, the couple has overseen the replacement of ornamental pieces that had endured water damage, the tuckpointing of brick at the front of the house and the rebuilding of the front wall. A master mason was hired to redo the brick archwork in the same manner it was installed in 1895.

“We were most concerned with the brickwork before we got into winter,” Paige says.

Joel Walter, owner and president of NJW Construction, says the Victorian Village Commission has been helpful in keeping a watchful eye on the project. “The initial surprise was seeing all the damage that had been done,” he says. “It was pretty surprising, so we redid the electrical service and wiring in the home.”

NJW also repaired a large portion of the plumbing and gas lines, as well as replacing the geothermal unit, which operates by using heat from the ground. Walter says it’s a more economical way to heat and cool the home. “That’s the beauty of it,” he says. “By default, the home is inefficient because it is all brick. A large majority [of its rooms] is not insulated.”

Under their ownership, the Hardings installed the geothermal system and a rainwater catchment cistern to water the gardens. The Henrys have since added solar panels over the garage to provide energy to the Circus House, hoping to save on the previous electric bills, which totaled $600 a month, according to Jason.

To assist with decorating, the Henrys consulted Michael Nielsen, president and CEO of Phoenix-based Nielsen Design Studios, who Paige describes as her lifeline. “My favorite project—what I specialize in—is repurposing, taking a building and giving it new life,” says Nielsen.

As a friend of the couple, he says it helps to know how they live and what is important to them. “They do a tremendous amount of entertaining,” he says. “That purpose has to be kept in mind. She has a good eye. They both do. I just absorb and I figure it out—how to implement it.”

Beyond the home’s electrical and plumbing, there was a lot of detailed restoration. Included was a project involving the turquoise-colored tile surrounding the fireplace in the dining room. Tiles were removed, cleaned and replaced—bringing back their grandeur as a focal point when guests enter the home from its porte-cochère.

Nielsen took the Henrys to the Las Vegas home furnishings market in January 2021 to select items for their home. They purchased a 500-pound handmade glass chandelier for the grand stairway. A hoist designed to hold up to 750 pounds was installed in the attic so that chandelier can be raised and lowered for cleaning.

The designer now says his favorite feature of the house is the main hall and its adjoining rooms. “That is the wow factor,” he says.

Paige describes the design elements she has selected for the home as “tasteful circus.” The couple has kept a diamond pattern on the refrigerator and freezer added by the Hardings to carry out the circus theme. Paige suggested that the diamond shapes be repeated on the cabinet hardware and on the glass inserts in a couple of built-in cabinets in the kitchen. The gray cabinets contrast well with the others in the room, which are navy.

Coincidentally, the name of the paint color in the media room is Sherwin-Williams’ Elephant Ear. In another nod to its circus theme, the couple at one time had admired bronze elephant heads on the kitchen island’s footrails that were installed by the Hardings. Only one remained in the house when they purchased it, so the Henrys bought new ones and situated them in the smaller kitchen area installed on the third floor.

The theme extends to colorful, modern harlequin wallpaper on the third floor, a bronze elephant balancing on an onyx ball on the newel post, a side table with a circus performer forged on its base, and Italian wallpaper featuring a tightrope walker by the back staircase. Paige found the image while searching the web. To obtain the wallpaper, she had to wire euros to Italy before it could be shipped.

One of the most unique design statements is a mural at the end of the main hallway from the front entrance. There, the Henrys commissioned local artist Mandi “Miss Birdy” Caskey to paint an original mural, which serves as the backdrop for a sculpture of an acrobat. “It’s the largest oil painting I’ve ever done,” says Caskey, who was adding finishing touches in mid-January.