Casey Abby Blog's: A New Owner Is Ready To Breeze In and Add New Blades to This Ohio Windmill

Tuesday 1 June 2021

A New Owner Is Ready To Breeze In and Add New Blades to This Ohio Windmill

Perhaps the third time will finally be the charm to add the blades to a woebegone windmill.

The original owner was never able to complete his passion project of building a windmill on Kolbe Road in Lorain, OH.

Built in 1939, the structure sat abandoned for years, until Tom Phillips purchased the windmill in 2005, and began the painstaking process of turning it into a residence.

However, the structure still lacks what makes a windmill a windmill: namely, the bold blades, spinning in the breeze.

Exterior of windmill in Lorain, OH
Alicia Parkinson

“The current owner got his permission from the city that he could put the blades up. He has the hickory to build the blades, but never completed that part of the project,” says the listing agent, Alicia Parkinson.

Parkinson is related to Phillips and tells us that she’s been following his remodeling efforts over the past two decades. She’s not the only one intrigued by his project. He was featured on a 2015 episode of “You Live in What?” on HGTV.

The windmill landed on the market a couple of weeks ago, for $279,700, and an offer is now pending on the 1.52-acre property. The agent says that Phillips took the windmill as far as he could, but that a new owner must take the project over the finish line.

“It’s one of those projects where eventually you just say, ‘You know what? I’m done,’” Parkinson says.

The home was listed for sale as is, but that didn’t dampen the interest in it.

Much of the remaining work is cosmetic. Phillips made all sorts of necessary mechanical updates, and recently replaced some ceiling beams, performed ductwork, and added a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system.

“That’s when everything got torn up,” Parkinson explains.

You can see the raw state of affairs in the listing photos. The structural work is finished, but a new owner will need to replace drywall in several spots, and the bathroom shower requires fixtures.

“It’s an awesome project for somebody. I would have loved to see [Phillips] finish it out,” says the agent, who adds that Phillips is now ready to move on to his next project.

During his tenure as owner, Phillips created a kitchen and living space, three bedrooms, and 3.5 bathrooms.

The interior of the windmill measures 2,846 square feet, most of it vertical and rounded. That, of course, presents a challenge for any builder.

In the HGTV episode, Phillips said the project gave him a chance to brush up on his math skills, since none of the interior walls are flat, and all the angles are irregular.

Dining table with a view through to the lower level
Alicia Parkinson

The first two floors are devoted to living space, and the bedrooms are on the third, fourth, and fifth floors.

“When he designed it, he said, ‘I’m going to put a bathroom on every floor, because who wants to do stairs if you need to use the restroom?’” Parkinson says.

The kitchen sits on the second floor and features a dining table with a glass top over a round cutout that makes it possible for diners to peer down to the level below.

On the top floor is an attic space where the roof is designed to rotate, a feature necessary to keep blades facing in the direction of the wind.

To take advantage of the surrounding views, each floor comes a balcony, and one wraps around the entire third floor, with access from the master bedroom.

The property is a mile from Lake Erie and across the street from a park.

“Kennedy Park is just woods and the creek. People go fly fishing down there,” Parkinson explains, adding that the original owners of the property donated the land to the city for the 30-acre park.

Parkinson says the buyer has big plans for the property.

“They definitely want to finish it,” she says. “We had tons of showings. We had families that were thinking this would be so cool—younger couples, older couples even. It’s just such a unique property.”