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PIX #1 - Living room with fireplace and large window area with window seat and built in storage area.

PIX #2 - Dining room with built in china cainet and buffet, also window seat under window.

PIX #3 - Kitchen area

PIX #4 - Mast bedroom, showing fireplace with white tile.

PIX #5 - Upstairs bathroom after the Thiry family modernized it during their residency.

PIX #6 - Original lavatory in upstairs bathroom now in the Weinandy home... a rare antique.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Today's article is the second and last about the house on Perry Street which was demolished to make space for an addition to Commercial Bank main office.

From the vestibule entry was gained into the reception room through glass doors. Reed recalls the library table there where there was always a supply of peanuts and Blackjack gum for him and other visitors.

Next to the reception room was the large living room. Windows in that room faced out on the front porch. Under the windows was a built-in storage area with the top allowing a place to sit and look out. A large fireplace in the room was equipped with artifical logs and burned gas. During one of my visits, with Mrs. Thiry, she said that on her first visit to the house, prior to purchasing it in 1972, she knew she just had to live there. It captivated her! She and her six children lived there until 1981.

The dining room had wood paneling three-quarters up. there was built-in china cabinet, floor to ceiling and a built-in buffet.

BACK STAIRS FOR HIRED HELP

Next to the dining room was a breakfast room with built-in cupboards and eating area. Next to it was the kitchen which allowed access to the back porch and also provided stairs for the second floor, mostly used by the hired help.

The second floor contained three bedrooms, the one being a large master room which was finished in white tile, according to Reed. The other two bedrooms were smaller. The master bedroom had a fireplace with natural gas and in imitiation log.

MAID'S ROOM AT FIFTH LEVEL

From the longhall which provided access to the bedrooms and bath, there was a stairs which led up to the attic. At the point halfway up, there was the maid's room. Readers will note that from the basement to attice there were six different levels in the house.

Charles Reed recalls that when he was yound, there was a building at the rear of the house where horses and carriages were kept...No one seems to know when it was demolished.

In talking with Mrs. William "Bill" Ellis, who has lived next to the house for many years. I learned that the land where the house was built by E.J. cunningham for his daughter, was part of a parcel all of which was owned by Cunningham, and included the land and house of the Ellises...plus the land both east and south to the first alleys.

Mrs. Ellis said when they purchased the house they discovered that there were no survey records for any of the houses that had been built on the Cunningham parcel. Apparently, owning all of that land, the family just built wherever it chose. she also said that in the quest for clear title for the property, it was learned that Wood Street was originally supposed to extend northward and join with what is now Walnut Street.

EARL CUNNINGHAM LAST OF FAMILY

Earl Cunningham, mentioned earlier was the last one of that family to own the house. It was at his death, and settling of his will, that Jerry and Idda Baxter purchased it, in about 1948.

According to Mrs. Thiry, the last owner had residence there, the house was completely redecorated and some alterations had been made to the house prior to its sale and demolition. She said if she had known that the house was to be demolished she would not have sold it. She thought the unamed purchaser was going to reside there.

TWO OBJECTS SAVED FROM HOUSE

As far as is known, only two objects were salvaged from the house and are still in existence. the lavatory from the upstairs bathroom was purchased and installed in the William Weinandy home on south U.S. 23.

The fireplace in the unusual little room midway between the front entrance and the second floor was purchased by the L.H. Nichols family, 325 Perry Street, and someday will be installed in their home.

The author hopes this article will keep alive, at least in memory, another one of Fostoria's elegant old homes.