Columbia Tusculum: Cincinnati’s Oldest Neighborhood
Ask Columbia Tusculum residents why they chose to live here, and you’re likely to hear:
- Unique, delightful architecture
- Well preserved Historic District
- Scenic river views
- Urban village lifestyle
- Attracts professionals & creative residents
- Green space and Recreation opportunities
- Accessible: Downtown, Eastside neighborhoods, Clifton, Northern Kentucky
History & Architecture
Tracing its roots to the 1788 Benjamin Stites settlement, Columbia Tusculum is Cincinnati’s oldest neighborhood and boasts some of its oldest homes. Walking the neighborhood you’ll see excellent examples of Victorian style architecture from Gothic Revival to Queen Anne, Folk Victorian and Stick styles. Bay windows, long, gracious porches with gingerbread trim, leaded glass windows and natural woodwork are typical.
Most houses in Historic District area were built between the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s. This area received recognition with eighteen homes and historic buildings placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 out of 206 citywide – or nearly 10%. It was declared a City Historic District in 1989.
Historic homes have been decorated in a variety of styles, ranging from period restoration to contemporary. We’re probably best known as the “Painted Ladies,” sporting playful color combinations. Who doesn’t feel uplifted coming home to a house where your imagination could run free reign in five colors.
See the Neighborhood History section for more on our colorful past, with stories of Revolutionary War hero settlers, steamboats and railroads, a millionaire vineyard baron, Mt. Tusculum, life as an early suburb, a pioneering airport that was the birthplace of American Airlines, a thriving shopping district, great floods and arrival of a new group of pioneers, the “urban pioneers” of the 70’s and early 80’s.
Renaissance in Housing and Business Development
Columbia Tusculum experienced a more recent wave of growth and development in the last ten years. Employers in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton and eastside neighborhoods have attracted young professionals and weary suburban commuters to the City. Empty nesters are looking for easy access to the City’s cultural and entertainment venues. Many of these new urban dwellers sought out Columbia Tusculum’s new construction homes. Stylish new townhouses copy the “good bones” of their Victorian grandmothers and fill remaining lots on the Tusculum hillsides.
A vision for a new neighborhood business center laid by neighborhood leaders twenty years ago culminated in the opening of the $50 million Columbia Square development late in 2008. This mixed office and retail plaza has attracted a range of new tenants and stimulated other businesses to join the neighborhood business district. Fourteen new businesses call Columbia Tusculum home since the Square opened in October 2008.
The traditional business district on Eastern Avenue has seen its own renaissance with cultural and professional organizations breathing new life into historic buildings. The newly renovated 1860 Spencer Township Hall is home to the Ballet Company Midwest, instructing young dancers seeking serious training. A former Methodist church dressed up as a “pink lady” houses the New Edgecliff Theater. The 1876 McKinley School building is now home for “everything Irish,” as the Irish Heritage Center of Greater Cincinnati settles in for the long term with plans for Irish theater, music, an Irish museum and library. A beautiful Italianate storefront houses the now expanded BeneFIT fitness studio and salon. The 1906 Carnegie Center, once a Carnegie Library and fully renovated by a local nonprofit group, awaits its next chapter. Early 20th century apartment buildings and historic churches live side by side with professional offices, bar/cafes and non-profit organizations.
Green Living and Scenic views
Columbia Tusculum is a green neighborhood, where recreation opportunities are at your doorstep and scenic views abound. Alms Park is the crown jewel, sited atop “Mt. Tusculum” and an old Indian look-out point with sweeping views up and down the Ohio River. Hold a party in the Italianate Pavilion building, bring your kids to the playground while you picnic under century old trees, enjoy the sunset from the Ohio River look-out point or watch planes taking off from the historic Lunken Airport. Saturday and Sunday mornings you’ll see cyclists and runners using our hills for training. More likely, you’ll join neighborhood walkers – especially dog walkers - out for fresh air and exercise.
Drop down the hill and get your workout at the Lunken Recreation Area with a six mile bike-run-skate path. Circle the airport runways and follow the green strip along the Little Miami River. Just up Wilmer Road you’ll find a City golf course, tennis courts and an indoor tennis club.
A Farmer’s Market on Wilmer Road near the main Lunken parking lot brings fresh local produce and flowers most days of the week during the growing and harvest seasons. A Bike Path segment connecting Lunken to lower Columbia Tusculum is complete, and part of a longer term plan for a continuous bike path from the eastern suburbs to Downtown. From Lunken, follow an old railroad line, wind through the Historic District and then pick up another bike path lane behind Riverview East Academy, and you’re now along the river on your way to Schmidt’s Field and Riverside Drive. Enjoy picnicking, launch your boat on the Ohio River, watch baseball and soccer games and join dog walkers out for a stroll.
Businesses have recognized our green and healthy lifestyle and chimed in. If you prefer indoor exercise, Anytime Fitness with a full range of exercise equipment is open 24/7. BeneFIT Studio provides group fitness classes or personal training. Finish with massage and salon services. Moksha Yoga offers a range of yoga classes, including hot yoga. You can then drop over to the Green Dog Café for a natural foods menu. And stop in at Greener Stock to check out green building products like recycled countertops and energy efficient lighting.
Summer of 2011 brought the city’s first Greenarama home show to Columbia Tusculum’s Strafer St. Eight homes were designed with energy saving and environmental features, ready to be LEED certified. Seven homes were sold by the end of the show.
Ask residents where their favorite scenic view is, and they may say, the view from my own house. Lucky residents on the Tusculum hill enjoy sunsets and the change of seasons across the Ohio River valley every day. No matter where you live, the views are gorgeous in all directions.
Urban Village Lifestyle
Narrow lots with front porches near the sidewalk and the tree lined streets of Columbia Tusculum lend themselves to a village feeling, where neighbors often cross paths in the course of their daily routines. Or maybe they run into each other at the local Starbuck’s and neighborhood eateries, like Allyn’s and Tostado’s. Many have patios where you may linger and casually join friends.
Neighbors know each other, and look out for each other in a small town way. It’s not uncommon for streets to organize potluck dinners and barbeques, even closing down a street for the day. The Columbia Tusculum Community Council organizes events in addition to their monthly meetings that serve as a forum for neighborhood issues. The council organizes the Mile 21.5 water station each year for the Flying Pig Marathon where the neighborhood turns out to cheer runners and walkers on into their home stretch. Our periodic Columbia Tusculum Home Tour is a hit with history and architecture buffs and home decorators alike.
Accessible
In addition to all the above amenities, many residents are drawn to Columbia Tusculum because they are only seven minutes from Downtown. Likewise, commuters headed for other eastside neighborhoods, Clifton or Northern Kentucky are within a 15-20 minute drive.
Shopping at the Rookwood Commons and Hyde Park Plaza is minutes away. Enjoy the eclectic mix of shops in nearby neighborhood shopping districts like O’Bryonville, Oakley and Hyde Park. The Kenwood shopping area is only a few more minutes away up I-71.