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| No: 6 | Street: Kris Circle (listed as 843 Wooster until 1992-3) | Name: Highlands House |
| Family: Wilson/Werdman | OwnerInfo: Y |
| Built: circa 1830 (or 1840) | Sec: 29 | Sub: Wooster Pike | Lot: R2-T5-S29 SE |
| Architect: | Cont/Build: Joseph Highlands |
| #Owners: | Orig Use: Residential | Current Use: Residential |
| STYLE | Ranch: | Split: | Colonial: | Victorian: | Trans: | Trad: | Other: |
| CapeC: | Bung: | Eng: | Dutch: | Cont: | Misc: American Farmhouse | ||
| CATALOGUE | Sears: | Gunn: | Pease: | BH&G: | Pattern: | OtherC: |
| MATERIAL | Siding: 1985 addition | Brick: Y | Stone: | Stucco: | Br&Sid: | OtherM: |
| ROOF: gable | Stories: 2 | |||||
| CHANGES | AsBuilt: | AddTo: Y | SubFrom: | Replace: |
| Original house probably had 2 rooms downstairs, 2 upstairs and a cellar (trap door from outdoors down). 1870s - addition behind original house. (There are 2 fireplaces up stairs and 3 downstairs in the old part of the house.) 1985 addition to south of original house and 2 car garage behind 1870s addition (Williams). 2002 - permit for Laura Wilson to build a storage shed. 2004 permit for Tim & Laura Werdman to add & remodel - finish basement, 1st floor family room, 2nd floor bedroom & bath (David Finger Co, contractor. Mike Mauch, RWA Architects Inc.). | ||||
| CurrOwner: Laura Welles Wilson (& Timothy Werdman) | Date Frc:1997 | DateToc: |
| OrigOwner: Joseph Highlands (b 1800 PA -d 1876 TP) | Date Frm: | DateTo: |
| Owner1: Josephus Highlands (b 1837 TP - d 1919 TP) | Date Fr 1: | DateTo 1: |
| Owner2: Albert Wilmer Highlands Sr. (1863 - 1904TP) | Date Fr 2: | DateTo 2: |
| Owner3: Albert Wilmer Highlands Jr. (1906 -1987 Cin.) | Date Fr 3: | DateTo 3: |
| Owner4: | Date Fr 4: | DateTo 4: |
| Owner5:Merrill A. Taylor | Date Fr 5: | DateTo 5: 1948 |
|
Owner6: Iva F. Matthews |
Date Fr 6: 1948 | DateTo 6: 1975 |
| Owner7: Alison Fern | Date Fr 7: 1975 | DateTo 7: 1979 |
| Owner8: Roger L. & Virginia R. Williams | Date Fr 8: 1979 | DateTo 8: 1991 |
| Owner9: Judith F. Spear | Date Fr 9: 1991 | DateTo 9: 1991 |
| Owner10: Andrew M. & Victoria S. Millitzer | Date Fr 10: 1991 | DateTo 10: 1997 |
| Owner11: | Date Fr 11: | DateTo 11: |
| 1975 Owner: | Iva F. Matthews % Fern Allison (also 1950) |
| Description: |
| Story 1: | Kris Circle is named after Maerki daughter Christina. Proposal to Terrace Park Council December 1969 for sub division of 6 lots just east of Wrenwood with exit to Wooster owned by Walter Maerki (4 houses on street, 2 on Kent Circle). Kent is Maerki son. |
| Story 2: | William Highlands with his wife Elizabeth came to this area from Pennsylvania in 1802 or 3. He bought farm land in what is now Terrace Park in 1805 and built a log house which stood near the intersection of Wooster Pike and Indian Hill Road until about 1917. There was an addition on the back for animals to protect them from Indian attack or theft. Their second home is said to have been a brick house on the side of the hill across from the present "Highlands House". It is unclear but "it had apparently been rented to someone who destroyed it by arson to collect on household insurance fraudulently". According to his tombstone in the columbarium of St. Thomas Church, William was born c1780 and died in 1841, aged 76 years. |
| Joseph Highlands was born in 1800 to William and Elizabeth Highlands in Pennsylvania. He married Electra Turner. They built "Highlands House", originally with a Wooster Pike address (now at the corner of Wooster and Kris Circle). Charles Meurer's painting of the house in 1904 is one of the few he did of Terrace Park landmarks. Joseph Highlands was a director of School District #9 Columbia Township. Their daughter, Mary, was the first person to graduate in a class of one from the Terrace Park School. The Turner family lived in what later was known as the Golden Pheasant on Round Bottom Road. Joseph Highlands died in 1876 in Terrace Park. | |
| William Highlands was a brother of Joseph. His "property adjoined Joseph's section of land (640 acres), where he farmed potatoes and corn. The field was behind the "76" (later Hinner's) Gasoline Station in Terrace Park, near Old Indian Hill Road. " | |
| Joseph's son Josephus Highlands was born in 1837 and died in 1919, all in Terrace Park. He married Harriet Ellen Martin. | |
| Next to live in "Highlands House" was Josephus' son Albert Wilmer Highlands Sr., born in 1863, died in 1904, all in Terrace Park. | |
| The next generation was Albert Wilmer Highlands Jr. He was born in 1906 and died in 1987. "The Highlands family vacated the white farmhouse on Wooster Pike in 1918 to move to Hyde Park." |
| Story 3: | "During Prohibition, the house was rented to a man who paid $50 rent in advance, but no one was ever there. Suspicious, "revenuers" from Milford staked out the place, watching through peep holes in a barn standing on the opposite hillside. Confirming their suspicions, they raided the house and found a still on the first floor in a lean-to, and 35 barrels of bootleg whiskey. Still and mash were soaked in kerosene and burned. The mess was cleaned up in a week." |
| Story 4: | Some of the information on the Highlands family comes from a conversation Donald B. Highlands had with his father A. Wilmer Highlands on December 13, 1980 as reported by Donald's sister Marcia Highlands Oetting. Other information was found in the Terrace Park Archives. In the book "A Place Called Terrace Park" there is a picture of William Highlands' tombstone on page 18 and of his log cabin on page 22. Page 22 also shows a painting done in 1904 by Terrace Park painter Charles Meuer (see 731 Miami) of "Highlands House". "Highlands descendants cannot confirm that the house once was a station on the underground railroad." |
| Story 5: | "Don (Highlands) remembers that Dad also stated the
Highlands house was part of the underground railroad. Apparently,
there was a tunnel from the house underground to a shrub next to the
barn. I have no verification of this and will be interested to know
if any is found." From a letter from Marcia Highlands Oetting
in 1992.
"From a ledger at Don's - March 16, 1821 - Zachaeus Biggs - 2 days thrashing $1.25 and 3 days chopping, fixing fence $1.87." From same letter. |
| Story 6: | Helen Terwillegar rented the upstairs for a couple of years after she came back from California. She is Bob Terwillegar's mother (see 733 Elm). |
| 1939 Map: | Map does not cover area |
| 1942 Map: | Howell (was on Wooster) |
| 1951/3 Map: | G. V. & Iva Matthews |
| 1959 Directory: | G. V. & Iva Matthews (843 Wooster) |
| 1960 Directory: | " |
| 1962-63 Direct: | " |
| 1963-64 Direct: | " |
| 1965-66 Direct: | " & Charles & Janet Jackson (renters?) |
| 1967-68 Direct: | " & Helen Terwillegar (rented the upstairs) |
| 1969-70 Direct: | " |
| 1971-72 Direct: | " & Mrs. Frank (Imogene) Tingley (1945 at 429 Elm)(renters?) |
| 1973-74 Direct: | " Mrs. G. V. Matthews & Mrs. Frank (Imogene) Tingley |
| 1975-76 Direct: | " |
| 1978 Directory: | Jim & Iris Kellerman |
| 1980 Directory: | Roger L. & Virginia Williams (He was Director of the Cincinnati Art Academy) |
| 1982 Directory: | '' |
| 1984 Directory: | '' |
| 1986 Directory: | '' |
| 1988 Directory: | '' |
| 1990-91 Direct: | '' (Sold 1991) |
| 1992-93 Direct: | Andy & Vicky Militzer (1st time listed as 6 Kris Circle) |
| 1994-95 Direct: | '' |
| 1996-97 Direct: | '' (Sold 1997) |
| 1998-99 Direct: | Laura Wilson |
| 2000-01 Direct: | Timothy Werdmann |
| 2002-03 Direct: | Tim Werdman |
| 2004-05 Direct: | Tim Werdman & Laura Wilson |
| 2006-07 Direct: | " " |
| 2008-09 Direct: | |
| 2010-11 Direct: |