Samuel Hannaford's home is up for sale

The longtime home of noted Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford is for sale.

It is the first time in more than a decade that 768 Derby Ave. in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Village neighborhood is hitting the real estate market. The asking price for the five-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom house built in 1865 is $159,000. The house sits on two-thirds of an acre of land. Mary Bryan of Comey & Shepherd is the listing agent.

An open house is planned Sunday at the home from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Hannaford is a legend in the annals of Greater Cincinnati's history while working as an architect and founding a firm that designed more than 300 buildings. Among the buildings with Hannaford's imprint in the region are Downtown's City Hall, Music Hall in Over-the-Rhine, the Sorg Opera House in Middletown, the old St. George Church in Corryville and the Wiedemann Hill Mansion in Newport.

Born April 10, 1835 in England, Hannaford's family moved to the United States when he was nine years old and eventually arrived in Cincinnati in November 1844, Betty Ann Smiddy wrote on a website dedicated to Hannaford and his work. After attending the Farmers’ College in College Hill, he earned an apprenticeship with architect John Hamilton in 1854 before launching his own firm three years later, according to Smiddy.

Hannaford designed the Derby Avenue house, located in what was once called Winton Place, in 1865. He lived there until his death Jan. 7, 1911.

The house remained in the Hannaford family until about 1940, Bryan said.

Sienna Properties, a limited liability corporation formed by Sean Mullaney, bought the property in 2005 for $126,900.

Mullaney said he had bought and rehabilitated several buildings prior to buying the Hannaford house. But he and his wife became interested in the property because there was a need to find a home for the growing Cincinnati Waldorf School. After buying the house, the first floor was converted to serve as the school's home. The Waldorf School is now located in Mariemont.

"It is a beautiful building," he said. "Once we bought it, I really became a big Hannaford fan."

The Cincinnati Preservation Association was part of a walkthrough of the house before it was listed for sale Thursday, said Paul Muller, the nonprofit organization's executive director.

“Samuel Hannaford designed some of the most grand and elaborate civic buildings and residential buildings and he chose to live in a relatively modest wood-framed house across the street from Spring Grove Cemetery,” Muller said. "Living in a bucolic, natural setting probably was intentional."