Unique home for sale in German Village
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The façade and first floor of 828 City Park Ave., a historic building in German Village that's up for sale. Photos: Courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens Bighill
It was an old-time movie theater, a cabinet shop and a popular local artist's home studio.
- Now, 828 City Park Ave. in German Village is up for sale for the first time in seven decades.
Why it matters: The three-story building — rare for the neighborhood — stands as a relic from an era when commercial and residential spaces were closely intertwined.
- The sellers hope it can stay that way.
Flashback: The building dates back to at least the 1910s, when a nickelodeon theater known as the Bijou operated on the first floor.
- An apocryphal story describes moviegoers paying with a potato in lieu of a cash ticket.
- Columbus Metropolitan Library historian Angela O'Neal pointed us to a 1916 promotion where grocers offered free Bijou tickets with the purchase of bread, which may be the origin of the potato tale.
- The theater was closed by the 1920s and merchants later sold elastic stockings and kitchen cabinets from the first floor showroom.
The intrigue: Edmund and Liese Kuehn, a German Village native and a refugee from post-war Germany, respectively, bought the building in 1952, per relatives Karl and Janene Maki, who are now its owners..
- Edmund was a Columbus College of Art & Design instructor and Columbus Museum of Art curator until retiring in 1976 to pursue a full-time career as an artist.
- The showroom became his personal studio, where he created works primarily for the local Keny Galleries before his death in 2011.
- Liese, a retired teacher, continued living on the third floor until she died in June.
The latest: The Makis, of nearby Schumacher Place, are listing the property for $1.5 million.
- A narrow driveway leads to a small backyard and two-car garage.
Reality check: That's a steep price for an empty studio and two upper floors of dated living spaces, but the Makis see a unique opportunity for someone with plenty of money and creativity.
What they're saying: "I would love to see it become a theater again," Karl Maki tells us. "It would be very cool if something like that could happen."
- Local historian John Clark, who befriended Liese toward the end of her life, calls it a "very interesting old building."
- Modern zoning rules could make a commercial opportunity challenging, Clark says, but not impossible.
