In late January, urged by Betsy Merritt, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s deputy general, Sylvia Korey decided to file her Roundwood Manor case to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Her decision comes after the Cuyahoga County Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial judge in December.
It’s a ruling that’s beginning to sound like a broken record. In an interview on Feb. 2, 2023, when asked how she stays fortified, Korey’s voice cracks. “I never felt like I had the other choice. The other choice is so wrong.”
Korey is referring to what she believes will lead to the razing of Roundwood Manor.
More than a year ago, an Edna Jones CD swelled within the immense 55,000-square-foot space, speaking to Roundwood Manor’s cozy grandeur. Its owner, Sylvia Korey, enthusiastically led Cleveland Magazine on a tour through her home. Korey spoke on the mansion’s history, while also pointing to its future: her proposal to internally convert the space into six luxury condominiums.
While Roundwood Manor is on the National Register of Historic Places and an irreplaceable architectural gem of Northeast Ohio, having been built by the Van Sweringen brothers (the minds behind the Terminal Tower complex, Shaker Heights and Shaker Square), its size has been a deterrent for Korey to sell since 2002. In the past 20 years, she’s only had one potential buyer, and they only wanted the land.
The demolition of the manor is unthinkable to Korey. Which is why she proposed instead to convert the manor into condominiums. While the Village of Hunting Valley has a special permit option available for the preservation of historic buildings, they have remained staunchly against the preposition, citing a 1938 ordinance that permits only one family per every five acres. (Roundwood Manor sits on 7.69 acres.) Additionally, the village cites the light pollution and noise generated by the condominiums a disturbance to Hunting Valley’s idyllic character.
Appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court is not without its own challenges. “I understood from my lawyers that the [Ohio] Supreme Court only takes 10% of the cases that has to do a lot with the public interest.”
While Korey remains assured by social media proponents online, Korey urges anyone with an interest in the case to make their concern vocal and write to the Village of Hunting Valley’s mayor and council members and the court itself for this reason.
Additionally, Korey hopes to illuminate what she believes is a lack of historic preservation policies in America, citing the demolition of New York City’s Penn Station as an example.
“It’s bigger than just Roundwood Manor. It has to shine a light on the United States and how we treat these century-old plus properties,” Korey says. “How can we go to the future not knowing our past?”
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