What’s up on Clotts Rd?

My future neighbors may have some questions about what is happening to the acreage that was recently sold on Clotts Rd across from Gahanna Middle School East. Some fear a big development. I’ll give you the short explanation and a longer, more detailed story for those who wish to know more.

The short story is that there will not be a big development there. My family is building one house on 1.7 acres by the road, which replaces a home that was demolished in the ’90’s. Some trees that are dead, half-dead, or healthy-but-in-the-way are being taken down on October 25th & 26th. They will be replaced in spring 2023. The healthy wood was taken to Sand and Sip, where anyone can make furniture out of it!

The long story: in March 2021, 6+ acres on one parcel with a house, barn & pasture was listed for sale. It went into contract in 12 days. It fell out of contact, and two contiguous parcels of land totaling 1.7 acres were added to the listing, making it now 8+ acres. For those wondering why it suddenly jumped up drastically in price, that is why. My husband & I were interested in the 2 contiguous parcels, and decided to put in an offer on all 3 parcels, which was accepted. We closed in May. The custom ranch home, though very solid with great bones, was long-neglected. We spent 2 weeks cleaning, painting, weeding, and purging, so that we could list the home on 6 acres and keep the remaining land. We worked *hard* to make the home attractive to someone who would find value in both the home and the barn, as we felt both were too fabulous to tear down. We hoped that it would attract a new owner who would appreciate the barn as the amazing agricultural asset that it is. We felt it would have been wasted on us, as we’re not equestrians, and it is a *really* nice barn.

In June I listed the 6-acre parcel with house & barn. It was in contract in less than 1 day. Our hard work paid off, as it was bought by an equestrian enthusiast. (!) We were so pleased that the new owner would honor the equestrian legacy of the previous family.

As it pertains to my own family, we intend to honor the legacy of the neighborhood. We intend to replace the mature soft maple trees with better, stronger, more storm-resistant trees. I am a tree lover and Gahanna’s Arbor Day celebration sponsor, so I hate cutting down any mature tree, even if it’s half-rotted. But I’ve done 2 tree giveaways every year for over a decade, and I know that the hand-sized saplings I planted a decade ago are now taller than me, so I’m confident that any tree we replace on Clotts Rd will be healthier than the ones we took down. Mature landscape will return in time, better than ever.

Come back to this blog to see future updates on the house build! It *will* be a beautiful home with very unique features, including “visitable” design that allows people of all abilities to visit.

We will try to be good neighbors throughout the build process and look forward to becoming a part of the Clotts Rd nieghborhood!