Smith-Plaschke-Stone House
326 Beharrell Avenue
New Albany, IN 47150
Sheriff Sale




Listing Description:

This spacious Queen Anne style home offers the convenience of in-town living, but with plenty of privacy and room for relaxation. Samuel L. Smith and his wife Lillie H. were the first residents of this house, located in Glenwood Place, which was a separate area from New Albany until about 1915. The family was living here by 1902 and would eventually purchase the property in April 1905 from Sarah A. Daniel. The young couple, along with their son Torrence, would only live at the Glenwood Place residence for six years, due to Samuel’s unexpected death in June 1908 at the age of 39 years.

In September 1908, Paul A. and Ophelia Plaschke purchased the home from Mrs. Smith for $4,000. This would begin nearly thirty years of residency for the Plaschke family. Mr. Plaschke was a nationally acclaimed artist and cartoonist, beginning his career in 1897 at the New York World newspaper. Within a few years, he and his wife moved to New Albany where he took a position with the Louisville Evening Post. In 1912, he became cartoonist for the Louisville Times and the Courier-Journal, a position he would hold until 1937. He then moved to Chicago and began working for the Hearst newspapers; The Chicago Herald-Examiner and later, The Chicago Herald-American. After his retirement in 1949, the Plaschkes took up residency in Louisville and Paul – a prolific painter of portraits and landscapes – devoted much of his time to painting. Locally, he exhibited his work in art shows both in Louisville and New Albany, nationally in New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Houston. When the Plaschkes resided in this home, Paul had a studio toward the rear of the property in a wooded area facing Silver Creek.

Arthur M. Gohmann and his wife Ruby purchased the property in February 1937. Mr. Gohmann was the secretary and treasurer of the Gohmann Foundry Co. located at State and Water Streets in Downtown New Albany. By the mid 1940s, the house became home to Charles L. and Bertha L. Stone. Mr. Stone was a machinist, employed by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad from where he retired. Charles died in January 1964 at the age 68. Although Mrs. Stone had moved from the residence shortly after her husband’s death, the house remained in the Stone family until the early 1970s, ending almost 30 years of ownership by the Stone family.

Carl W. and Patricia A. Cullins were the next owners of the property. Mr. Cullins was a New Albany firefighter and also an electrician. He would eventually have his own electricial company, Cullins Electric, which he ran from the Beharrel Avenue residence. The property stayed in the Cullins family through the mid 1990s.

The Smith-Plaschke-Stone House has the asymmetrical façade and steeply pitched roof typical of the Queen Anne style. The deep, full width front porch is supported by fluted columns and appears to be a slightly later, but compatible addition to the house. The house is currently clad in aluminum siding, but ornamental details such as sunburst brackets at the bays have been retained. The original one-over-one wooden windows also remain, with storm windows added. The photo above, from 1972, shows the home covered in Insulbrick, prior to the addition of the aluminum siding.

The house contains almost 2900 square feet of living space, including four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms.

One enters the house through the original front door, which features a chamfered panel design and exquisite Eastlake hardware, as well as an etched glass pane installed by the current owners (to replace stained glass that had been removed). The wide entry hall features strip oak flooring with a parquet border.

At the end of the hall, a cozy bench is nestled beneath the staircase and illuminated by a unique Art Nouveau-influenced light fixture. The woodwork in the hallway and throughout the house is original, and on the first floor is relatively simple but with a double beaded detail. The original radiators also remain and are still in use.

Pocket doors with Eastlake hardware lead from the hallway into the front parlor, which features strip oak flooring, oak paneling, built-in shelving and a beamed ceiling.

The corner fireplace features a mantelpiece with fluted pilasters topped by floral-motif capitals. This room is also illuminated by a period light fixture.

Another set of pocket doors leads to what was likely originally the dining room, now used as a living room. This carpeted room includes a bay, and a side porch off the room has been enclosed to create an additional small sitting room.

The updated kitchen includes a built-in china cabinet with diamond-paned doors, as well as a 9’ x 9’ pantry and an island. A rear porch has been enclosed to create a sunny breakfast room. The first floor also includes a large family room with a stone-faced gas fireplace as its centerpiece, and a full bathroom.

The staircase features turned balusters and a square, urn-topped newel post, and is lit by a series of three windows. Upstairs the woodwork is simpler, and four-panel doors topped by transoms are found throughout. A small room at the top of the stairs would make an ideal library or computer room, or could be utilized as a fourth bedroom.

The roomy master bedroom has an updated bathroom adjacent. It also connects to the second bedroom, which has built-in corner cabinetry.

Both rooms have strip oak flooring. A hallway leads back to the third bedroom, which is carpeted and has two closets. Another full, updated bathroom is located across the hall from this bedroom.

The spacious, beautifully landscaped back yard includes a large in-ground pool with an adjacent bar. A bathroom and changing area opens from the rear of the house into the pool area. The back yard is fenced and abuts the earthen Silver Creek flood wall, which affords plenty of quiet and privacy. The two-car garage includes a loft area that can be used as a recreation room or for storage. Additional parking is available in the shared paved driveway or a second gravel drive.
 

The property’s judgment number is 22C01-1005-MF-920. With this number you can visit the Clerk's Office in the City-County building and enter it into their computers to find the judgment owed on the property. This is public record.




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To be sold at Sheriff’s Sale Tuesday, 7 June 2011 at 10:00 AM in the Office of the Sheriff of Floyd County (first floor of the City-County Building, 311 Hauss Square, New Albany). Judgment number: 22C01-1005-MF-920.