“We walked into 309, and it was a mess — the ceiling was gone from above the kitchen where the water had run through, and there were ripped-out walls, and you couldn’t see any of the floor for all the dust, and it was beautiful,” MacKenzie-Thurley said. “We were just looking at this shell of a beautiful old house.”
The couple looked at other houses, in and out of Hamilton, Kelly’s hometown, but, “we couldn’t find a house more beautiful than 309 N. 2nd Street,” he said. “I mean, the woodwork, the craftsmanship, the history.”
German Village, with its wide streets, large trees and friendly neighbors, helped seal the deal for the couple, who had been searching for a “turn-key” home that would require little to no work.
"It was most definitely not a turn-key," said MacKenzie-Thurley, executive director of the Fitton Center for Creative Arts.
He noted that the program is not for everybody, and many buyers add their own sweat equity.
Kelly MacKenzie-Thurley, a Hamilton High School graduate, is a professional opera singer and a voice professor at Northern Kentucky University who has a voice studio in Hamilton.
The total purchase price, including renovations, will come to just over $250,000. Officials have developed four of the eight homes the fund has owned, and are working with someone on a fifth, according to Mark Murray, a senior project manager for both the CORE Fund and city government.
“The CORE Fund is not about flipping houses,” MacKenzie-Thurley said. “It’s about owner-occupieds. These houses are done not only beautifully … they’re done properly for the future, so they will live well into the future.
“Our house has new electrical, new plumbing, new heating/air conditioning throughout. It’s a quality, sturdy house that is also old and is also beautiful.”
“That house has turned out to be quiet the jewel,” Murray said.
“We have gained some traction” finding owners for properties, said Murray, who works mainly with CORE’s residential properties. Aside from the MacKenzie-Thurleys, who have moved in to their house, CORE is working with clients on N. 3rd and N. 2nd streets, among others. Murray has big hopes for the building at 401 N. 2nd St.
When CORE works on a house, it first stabilizes the exterior. In most cases, interiors already have been gutted, “so if we get a client interested, what we do is we work with them on floor plans, based on what they want the home to look like on the inside,” Murray said.
Then CORE uses those floor plans to create a budget before working with its contractors.
“It’s been pretty rewarding,” Murray said. “You look at what the homes were before, and what we’ve been able to work with our clients to create, you feel like you’re really doing some good here.”
Hamilton city government has invested about $3 million through CORE to redevelop commercial properties, but the city has paid $0 toward restoring houses. Instead, the residential program has been supported by the Hamilton Community Foundation. At least for the immediate future, as homes are purchased, sale proceeds will be used to buy new houses for restoration, said CORE Director Mike Dingeldein.
Information about residential properties that are available can be found at www.corehamilton.org. For information about the program, call Murray at (513) 275-1740.
“We have a few homes that still are available,” Murray said, including the historic Fitton house at 329 N. 3rd St., a duplex at 310-312 Main St., and another duplex at 216-218 Buckeye St. in German Village.
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