After 40 years of living in Long Island, New York, it was finally time for Mary Lou Morella and Irv Epstein to return to Morella’s hometown of Westlake.
The couple, who met while in college at Ohio University, moved closer to his family and new job in New York. But now with their only son in law school in Washington, D.C., they wanted to be back in Northeast Ohio.
They scoured the West Side suburbs and found that Westlake homes were newer with larger lots, which was just what they were looking for. A more modern, 3,430-square-foot, four-bedroom brick colonial with less maintenance costs meant Morella could focus on the things she’d always wanted such as the vegetable garden she couldn’t have in the big city.
“Even with just the two of us, we find a use for all the rooms,” she says. “A man cave, a lady cave and a guest bedroom.”
Their new home, tucked away in a quiet cul-de-sac, is a quick ride to one of their favorite eateries, the Italian classic La Campagna. When they get the craving for what they refer to as “honest-to-goodness Italian bread,” they visit Blackbird Baking Co. in nearby Lakewood.
Morella and Epstein enjoy whisking away to Crocker Park for a date-night dinner at Brio and a movie. And during the holidays, Morella says she can get almost all of her shopping done in one place.
“Empty nesters want to have that access to the shopping and dining of Crocker Park,” says Westlake’s economic development manager Michelle Boczek. “They get that urban setting without have to go downtown.”
In her spare time, Morella makes regular trips to the expansive Westlake Recreation Center, which sits on 5 acres and includes a fishing lake, sledding hill and tennis courts. It was a major selling point for Morella, who likes to do laps on the indoor track and the 1.2-mile walking course in the center’s parklike campus.
Although they’ve settled in Cleveland, they still love to travel. They made sure to choose an area close to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport so they could easily visit family.
But whatever city they’re in, they want to be close to one of their favorite pastimes: baseball. Westlake is a quick trip to Progressive Field — and it costs much less to spend a day at an Indians game than a Mets game, they note. “But we’re still discussing changing out allegiance,” Morella says with a wink.