Gamble House items to be auctioned

They lost the war. But they won the marker.

Now they can also buy something from James N. Gamble's Westwood home, the historic house they tried to save.

Preservationists can take the small comforts in two doses.

The first comes Saturday when an Ohio Historical Marker honoring Gamble's business, philanthropic and civic accomplishments is unveiled outside another historic building, the 125-year-old Westwood Town Hall.

The second takes place Aug. 23 with an auction of the house's contents. The beneficiary: Greenacres Foundation, the Gamble house's Indian Hill-based owner that successfully fought to have it demolished. The house, formerly owned by Louis Nippert, Gamble's grandson, came down April 1, 2013, Opening Day for the Reds.

Nippert preserved the house as a shrine to his grandfather until his death in 1992. Nippert's widow, Louise, rejected all efforts to save it until her death in 2013. She donated the house to the Greenacres Foundation, which the Nipperts established and ran.

Preservationists on the local, national and international levels waged a three-year war to save the landmark frame house in the city's largest neighborhood. Gamble came home to the 13-room structure in 1878 on the day he invented Ivory soap at Procter & Gamble, the firm his father co-founded. The inventor, industrialist and philanthropist died in the house in 1932 at the age of 95.

From his Americana oak desk – with its carved lion faces and claw feet – Gamble signed the checks to build Christ Hospital and the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium as well as hundreds of houses of worship across America. He also used that desk to endorse documents on behalf of his support for civil rights, workers' rights, environmentalism and mass transportation.

Historical marker in Westwood to honor James N. Gamble

For decades, the mail Gamble received but died before he could open sat on that desk, one soon to be up for auction. And that's not all. Everything but the house will be on the block.

"Everything from the Gamble place is old, old, old," said Mark Mallette, the Montgomery-based auctioneer handling the event. "Everything is in excellent shape."

Mallette shared his thoughts on some of the items from the online inventory of "the historic James N. Gamble Estate." Ironically, Greenacres officials and the foundation's attorney spent years in court arguing that the house was not historic.

Two cases regarding the house continue to work their way through the courts. In one case, Greenacres wants the city of Cincinnati to pay an unspecified amount for allegedly throwing roadblocks in the foundation's way to keep it from getting a permit to destroy the house.

None of the legal matters concerns Mallette. He preferred to talk about Gamble's:

• China. "It's late 19th century Royal Doulton Burslem with a floral motif with puffy blossoms. I've never sold anything like this in the 37 years I've been doing this. There are 90-some pieces, and I'm selling it as a set. You can't break this up." The china's main colors, blue and white, mirror the color scheme of vintage soap wrappers of Ivory.

• Books. "There are thousands of them. James Gamble autographed a lot of them."

• Rookwood. "The foundation kept the best Rookwood, the historic pieces. We do have a wonderful Carl Schmidt plaque."

• Portrait. "It's early 20th century," the auctioneer said of the oil painting of the inventor-philanthropist as an old man.

• Shower. A futuristic multi-headed shower of either Rookwood or Wheatley tiles, and resembling a feature in the master bath of a Homearama mansion, was removed from Gamble's house before it was destroyed. "We are going to incorporate that into the Nippert auction in September."

Mallette plans to auction off the contents of Louis and Louise Nippert's Indian Hill home Sept. 27 and 28.

While the war over the Gamble house raged, Greenacres officials said the foundation planned to establish a learning center on the site of the home once it was razed. That lot was not on the list of possible sites for the historical marker – the only one of its kind in Westwood.

"The Westwood Town Hall made a great deal of sense as the place to erect the marker," said Greg Kissel, a Westwood Historical Society trustee and co-author of the marker's text. "James N. Gamble conducted much of his civic work in that building."

Gamble served eight terms as a councilman when Westwood was a village. He saw to it that the town hall was built in 1889. He was elected in 1894 as Westwood's last mayor, overseeing the village's annexation into Cincinnati.

"He was a multifaceted guy," Kissel said. "He had a huge impact on the nation with his invention of Ivory soap, his philanthropy and expanding Procter & Gamble. With his talents and his gifts, he also had a huge impact on Westwood and the city of Cincinnati."

The marker's dedication takes place on Gamble's birthday. He would be 178 years old.

"He's young to us," Kissel said. "What he stood for is something we can all take to heart today. He believed you should care for and improve your community and make sure everyone is enjoying the freedom that hard work can give." ■

Auction of contents of James N. Gamble's house

The contents of Westwood's historic James N. Gamble house go up for auction at 10 a.m. Aug. 23 at 8400 Blome Road in Indian Hill on the grounds of the Greenacres Foundation. Proceeds from the auction benefit the foundation. To view the contents (rugs, lamps, art, china, books, furniture, etc.) of Gamble's house, visit www.malletteandassociates.com.

Historical Marker Unveiling

James N. Gamble will be honored for his civic, business and philanthropic contributions with the unveiling at noon Saturday of an Ohio Historical Marker at the Westwood Town Hall, 3017 Harrison Ave. Gamble died in 1932 at the age of 95 in his Westwood home, which was wrecked April 1, 2013. As the last mayor of the village of Westwood, before it was annexed into the city of Cincinnati, Gamble worked in the town hall, which is marking the 125th anniversary of its opening.