Have CRS create your dream house

The Cleveland Restoration Society (CRS) Heritage Home Program helps homeowners turn their current homes into beautiful, restored community gems. Not only that, the interest rate offered is incredibly low.

Here are a couple success stories and program details shared with us by the fine staff at CRS:

In late 2007, Daniel Wilson and Lisa Kucharski were having work done on their Nottingham Road home, an old farmhouse built in 1878, when their contractor discovered the house’s original foundation was inadequate. Wilson and Kucharski called on the Cleveland Restoration Society (CRS) and took advantage of CRS’s Heritage Home Program.

Similarly, Thad Gregory contacted CRS in the fall of 2008 as his project list for a 1920s front porch Colonial Revival on East 150th Street quickly expanded. The Gregory’s needed to address some drainage issues, add additional living space and make necessary upgrades throughout the house.

The Heritage Home Program, which is made available to Ward 11 residents by Councilman Michael D. Polensek and Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, is a 3.5% APR, 7 or 10 year loan for home repair and restoration projects. To be eligible for the loan, a house must have been built prior to 1960 and retain character-defining elements such as the original exterior cladding and wood or steel windows. Wilson and Kucharski used the Heritage Home Program to jack up their house and pour a new foundation and re-grade their lawn to slope away from the structure. The Gregory’s also capitalized on the loan program to correct the grade of their side yard, as well as finishing their third floor attic for additional living space, updating the kitchen and primary bathroom, installing a rear kitchen door accessing the backyard, adding a second bathroom in the basement and refinishing their hardwood floors. The Heritage Home Program can be applied to a wide range of home improvement projects, addressing all the issues that come along with maintaining and upgrading a historic property.

To find out if your home is eligible for the Heritage Home Program, or to take advantage of the Cleveland Restoration Society’s free technical assistance, call JP Kilroy at 216-426-3116, or visit www.clevelandrestoration.org.