Thursday, May 3, 2012

Vonderheide Wyoming Home


Home of August and Anna Vonderheide (1920-1925)
Village of Wyoming, Hamilton County, Ohio

I've always been fascinated by this house.  Research has shown that my great-grandfather, August Vonderheide, moved into it sometime in 1920.  It is the residence listed in the phone book as their home from 1920-25.  It makes sense that they would have wanted to move into a bigger home at this time because it coincides with the marriages and the starting of new families, all of whom initially lived there.

My grandmother and grandfather, Virginia Vonderheide and Roy Ryan, celebrate their wedding day there on September 1, 1921.  Virginia's brother, Val, also moved in with his wife, Clara Wheeler about that time. My mother, Virginia, and Val's daughter, Dolly, were born while living in that home.

I've always cherished my grandparent's wedding pictures. I recently upgraded my photo-editing software to Photoshop Elements 10 and decided to try my hand at layering these treasurers over the one picture I have of the home.  Here are the results:

Roy Ryan and Virginia Vonderheide Courting

Wedding Guests:  Top Row: Ray Ryan, Virginia VDH, Roy Ryan, August VDH, Anna VDH, Rose Gross Ryan, Clara, Emma Woermann, Victor Becker, Ed Woermann, Julius Gross, Henry and Joe VDH  Bottom Row: Florence Ryan, Josie Turner, Aunt Sophie, Ceal VDH, Emma Huff and Woermann Children

Wedding Day:  Virginia and Roy, September 7, 1921

Of course, their marriage led to the inevitable birth of my mother, Virginia, on July 17, 1922.  Here she is pictured on the porch with her father and grandparents.

Anna, Virginia (baby), Roy, August 
I'd love to show you what the house looks like in 2012.  The address of this home is 416 Springfield Pike, Wyoming, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati with many large, stately, restored homes). However, in the 1960s, this property was combined with a couple of others and torn down. Replacing it is a very sterile, uninteresting building that houses the Wyoming Board of Education.

Current home of the Wyoming Board of Education

I want to acknowledge my Vonderheide cousins who had a copy of the house in their collection and made it available to me.

Update:  A reader suggested that I combine pictures 2, 4 and 5.  What a great suggestion!  From right to left I now have my grandparents courting, getting married, and their first-born child, my mother.  Love it!


7 comments:

  1. What a shame they took down that beautiful home. I get it, growth and all that, but, that house has so much style! Shame.

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  2. Beautiful combination photos and yes, too bad about that great home being gone.

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  3. It looks like you've been having too much fun, Kathy! You did a great job combining the photos. It's too bad you can't find a photograph somewhere before it was torn down. It's a beautiful old home.

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  4. I hate it when beautiful buildings are destroyed and replaced by uninteresting structures. Nice work with the photos, you could try to combine 2, 4, and 5.

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    1. Thanks, Rob. I took your suggestion and I'm adding it to the post.

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  5. Oh Kathy, this is wonderful. It makes me wish I know how to use Photoshop. It has always intimidated me. Sadly, I am still looking for a photo of my great grandparents home - 2338 W. Washington Blvd. It is only an empty lot with a bus passing in front on Google Earth. But hope springs eternal . . . maybe someday.

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    1. Margel,
      I have a list of four buildings/homes that have been torn down. A friend has a list of them and is always on the hunt. Given the name of your blog, I sincerely hope you can find a picture. I'll do the Happy Dance with you when you do.

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