herr2ck: Columbus - Dennison Place - King Avenue East of Neil Avenue

March 2026.

Dennison Place is a small, largely residential neighborhood that is south of OSU campus and immediately west of High Street. Its primary thoroughfares are King Avenue and 5th Avenue, and this post mostly focuses on the former. (I have photos along Neil Avenue, too, but those are in a separate article for continuity purposes.)

There isn’t much history available online on Dennison Place, but given that it doesn’t really appear on Sanborn maps until the 1901 edition and the methods through which Columbus (and other large cities expanded), we can assume it was being developed to its present density around the turn of the 20th century. Indeed, the Near Northside Historic District listing (which includes Dennison Place) states that it was platted in 1888 by Anne Dennison, who was influenced by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and designed the picturesque “Circles” area. Beforehand, the area was owned by William Neil and his family, who farmed there.

Dennison Place is located on the north side of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by King Avenue and the University District to the north, 5th Avenue and Victorian Village to the south, High Street and Weinland Park to the east, and the Olentangy River to the west. This post begins at the eastern end, by High Street, and proceeds westward to Neil Avenue (where the second post continues).

41 King Avenue

The houses closest to High Street are Italianate in style, indicating they were built earlier than the later Queen Anne/Romanesque Revival houses further west. The county auditor’s website (which I’m going to lean on heavily) claims this one was built in 1901, and it does appear on that year’s Sanborn map. I will say the auditor usually lists “1900” if they can’t find a date of construction on a historic home, but the houses nearby are supposedly older. Sigh.

44 King Avenue

This slightly more elaborate Italianate has carved hood molds and some fancy woodwork along the roof eave. I also like the attic window with a stained-glass rose design.

Horse hitching posts:

50 King Avenue

I like the unusual finish of the stone hood molds on this house, as well as the gable’s pink shingles.

53-55 King Avenue

53-55 King dates to circa 1890. I’ve never seen a house with a diagonally placed entrance like this one, and the Second Empire-ish tower plopped on top of an otherwise bare design is weird too. It has been subdivided into two apartments.

58 King Avenue

Here’s another standard Italianate, tall and vertical with a shallowly pitched roof. Again, these are very common across Columbus.

I really like these fancy doors with art glass windows, even though the wood is painted white:

59-61 King Avenue

This Richardsonian Romanesque-ish house built c. 1890 uses a plan that is ubiquitous across Columbus. Some in the University District are simple with wood shingles, while elaborate examples in Victorian Village along Neil Avenue have more detailed ornamentation and are built of brick or stone. This house straddles the middle ground between the two, as it has a bit of fancy detail like the stone voussoirs. It once had a larger wooden porch that has been removed.

60 King Avenue

60 King is a really odd one. It appears to have once had a round tower, which had its top chopped off and covered by a more conventional roof. The porch is original, but its double height is unusual.

64 King Avenue

This is one of the few remaining wood-framed houses on the street. (The Sanborn maps show more, but several were demolished for brick houses or apartment buildings.) It has a small turret on top of the roof. The slightly asymmetrical fenestration bugs me, though the odd third window is centered over the door and turret.

66 King Avenue

66 King, dating to circa 1890, has a very colorful exterior. Red brick, stone lintels, green scalloped shingles and window frames, purple cast-iron porch columns (these are mid-century replacements), and parts of the porch are painted yellow.

77-79 King Avenue

77-79 King is one of the more architecturally distinguished homes along the street, if a little clumsily proportioned. It looks as if an American Foursquare was cleaved in half, stretched out, and had a Chateauesque gable slammed down in the middle. The auditor’s website gives another 1890 date, and the house appears on the 1901 Sanborn map, so it probably dates to that time period. It is cited in the NRHP listing as “[having] always been a multiple family dwelling. The stepped, central gable unifies the design and is compatible with the architecture of the area.”

80 King Avenue

Although this circa 1890 Queen Anne house has been altered with a modern coat of gray paint, its peaked turret and wooden spindlework are interesting details.

86 King Avenue

I love this little Second Empire cottage with its mansard roof and fanciful dormers. The brick has been painted a shade of pastel yellow and had its original windows replaced with vinyl, both of which occurred between 2009 and 2011, as the house appeared to be abandoned and dilapidated beforehand. I’ll forgive the yellow paint because it looks cute.

Remember, even though the house is technically one story, the mansard roof has occupiable space inside.

91 King Avenue

Interesting choice of yellow paint for the accents here. It also dates to c. 1890, and has some unique details such as the square bay window and vaulted attic window.

William Fassig House (93 King Avenue)

93 King is a little earlier, dating to 1888. Unlike the slightly newer Queen Anne homes here and elsewhere, it is an example of Columbus’s vernacular Italianate houses. Those are more common in German/Italian Village, though. This house in particular has carved lintels and a bracketed cornice.

94-104 King Avenue

These heavily altered rental houses are examples of, well, less architecturally dignified houses on the street. I think these alterations dated to the 1950s at first, and they were recently replaced with more modern siding and windows. Note the varying sizes and placement of the windows--this is likely different from their original construction.

103 King Avenue

I like the porch and gable on this circa 1880 house. The rest is pretty standard fare, though.

117 King Avenue

117 King, built circa 1880, is one of the most elaborate houses on the street. It has abundant Queen Anne detail, such as a tower, bay window, and woodwork. It seems to be a modified version of the “standard plan” I mentioned earlier.

Very detailed wooden porch, emphasized via its bright and colorful paint scheme:

The circular pieces painted blue and red remind me of nazars (the witchy evil-eye charms).

This turret, though small, has lots of details with its wooden courses and rougher brick panels:

This bay window has more fancy woodwork and a gable:

It is supported by two posts and a flaring base:

118 King Avenue

An otherwise bog-standard house on the street, 118 King is spiced up with wooden Eastlake-style trim. This type was mass-produced in the late 19th century and was a common inclusion on Folk Victorian or more simply styled Queen Anne houses.

Detail of the porch’s Eastlake woodwork:

Similar designs on the gable:

120 King Avenue

This one has unique wooden trim, lintels, and an interesting first-floor window. It was built circa 1890.

124 King Avenue

I like the contrast of the green trim and dark stone lintels on this one, and it also has its original slate roof. The auditor’s website claims c. 1880, and it appears on the 1901 Sanborn map.

128 King Avenue

Sometimes I get so distracted by other things nearby that I forget to take other photos I had intended to take earlier. This is one of those cases--after admiring the shiny ornamentation of 137 King, I forgot to do a straight-on shot of this one’s facade. Oops. Anyways, this house dates to circa 1880 and has a unique, large tower with a conical slate roof.

129 King Avenue

This is an interesting one, as it has two cross gables that make a more symmetrical design. The window placement still varies, though, as each wing projects a different distance from the wall. The auditor’s website dates it to 1880, though neither the 1901 Sanborn nor the 1921 Sanborn show the distinctive double gable.

137 King Avenue

Another c. 1880 house, this one has some unique Renaissance Revival/Palladian details, such as the porch, denticulation, and Palladian window. It also has a flatter wall plane versus the more dynamic Queen Anne houses elsewhere on the street.

Detail of the porch, with Doric columns and wreath decoration:

Bay windows and Palladian window:

The King

These luxury apartments were designed by local firm BBCO (headquartered in the Schlee-Kemmler Building as of late) in what they call “a brownstone typology to maximize height limits designed in a modern interpretation of the Victorian style.” (You’ve already lost me--“Victorian” is not a style of architecture, rather a period of time in which many styles flourished.) The firm doesn’t list a date of construction, but according to Google Maps, work was underway in November 2015 and mostly completed by September 2016, so I’m guessing the buildings were completed by the end of 2016. They occupy the entire north side of King between Hunter and Highland.

This block has also gone through rapid change, unlike the others nearby. In 1901, several homes stood on the site, with a wooden church on the northwest corner of King and Hunter known as Olivet Presbyterian Church. By 1961, all but one of the houses were demolished in favor of a parking lot, and the church building was occupied by the Church of the Nazarene. In 1963, a larger Modern church stood on the site, which was designed by notable Columbus firm Tibbals, Crumley, & Musson, who also designed The Drake on Ohio State’s campus. It was demolished in 2015 for the construction of The King.

I love BBCO as a firm, but their “design logic” is total nonsense. It takes the wacky Postmodern view (which is the movement presently under attack by mainstream architecture firms and professors, ironically) that the form of a rectangular house with a gable slapped on top of it is enough to evoke the image of Victorian-era architecture. This is far from true--important aspects such as materiality, picturesque-ness, and ornamentation are absent entirely from this design. These supposedly historic forms, in addition, are unified by bare metal boxes that any Modernist would be proud of.

I’ve seen good architecture that either attempts to revive Victorian-era designs or borrows from it while clearly being a contemporary project, but this building is neither. It is a shallow attempt to respond to the neighborhood--if anything, I bet the neighborhood commission forced the firm to adopt these forms.

169 King Avenue

I bet you can’t guess when this one was built…yup, circa 1880 again. I like the covered porch above the bay window and the steeply pitched roof on the ground floor’s porch.

James & Elizabeth Lynas House (194 King Avenue)

1897 photo of the newly built house. (All Columbus Data)

One of the more fanciful houses on the street, 194 King has a great deal of Richardsonian Romanesque influence. It more so uses Romanesque motifs as ornamentation instead of as an actual design feature, though. I still like it, but that is a common architectural criticism in academia. It was designed by Yost & Packard.

The main alterations I noticed with this house are modifications to the porch (the wooden posts are now brick), and more recently, removal of the roof finials. They are visible in the above photo and amazingly lasted until 2021, but Google Maps shows that they were removed by 2022.

Detail of the Richardsonian arched window and its colonnettes:

I like these recessed arched windows on the second floor, as well as the roof’s flaring eaves:

202 King Avenue

Like its neighbor, this house has one of the more intricate designs on the street. It is a great example of the Queen Anne tendency to avoid flat wall planes, but it also has Richardsonian Romanesque (contrasting stone lintels, vaulted window) and Shingle (wooden portions of the facade) characteristics.

Also note its heavy asymmetry:

It’s interesting to me how the stone trim curves its way downward from the chimney:

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Northminster Presbyterian Church)

This simple Gothic Revival church was built in 1913 as the Northminster Presbyterian Church, according to the auditor’s website, and its organ was installed in 1914. It replaced two brick houses formerly on the site. The current congregation is known as Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker Orthodox Church, which began using the building in 2003.

Oblique view from the northeast:

I didn’t cover this one in as much detail (i.e. giving it its own article) because I’ve seen very similar designs for churches so many times by now. This sort of picturesque English Gothic design was everywhere between like 1900 and 1930.

North elevation:

Simple bell tower:

I’m guessing these doors are no longer used, given that they are missing handles:

West facade, with its large stained-glass window:

More conventional rectory with rectangular windows:

213-219 King Avenue

This Commercial style retail building shows this area of King Avenue’s development into a more commercial zone versus the residences nearby. It was built in 1925 and replaced a brick house on the site. The building has a few ornamental touches, such as the pedimented entrance to the apartments above, but its design is largely spartan otherwise.

These storefronts are original and in decent condition. They’re pretty standard fare for the time:

I like this glazed tile on the bulkheads, which contrasts nicely with the brick masonry:

Frosted glass transom above:

Classical portico, lately painted with bright colors, which surrounds the door to the apartments above:

218 King Avenue

This house mixes the form of the nearby Queen Anne houses with some Italianate touches, such as the bracketed cornice and small attic windows. It actually works quite well.

222 King Avenue

Now this seems to be a more deliberate duplex. It dates to circa 1890 and has a distinctive double gable that establishes its nature as two separate units within a larger whole. Some subtle details, such as the brickwork and rafter beams, are also present.

I think this porch is original, though I’m not sure if the second floor always had a balcony:

225-229 King Avenue

These two houses were built circa 1900, combined into one around 1950-1960, and painted black between 2019 and 2020. According to the 1921-1961 Sanborn map, these houses received their addition by 1961, and they were home to an undertaker. Perhaps the connector was related to a conversion into a funeral home? The black paint also obscures a crappy coat of stucco.

245 King Avenue

A tall Commercial style design built before 1901, this commercial building is the tallest on the block and dominates this stretch of King Avenue. There is a small one-story addition in a complementary style to the west, which was built slightly later. I like its distinctive brickwork and fading ghost signs on the east wall.

The base has been painted black and “modernized,” but it covered previous layers of various odd colors. I still don’t get the appeal of painting brick, though.

Detail of the third floor windows, which have vaulted transoms:

The multicolored brickwork is pretty cool, too. The cornice has this repeating diamond pattern on it:

Given the sans serif font and overall design, I think this milk ad dates to the mid-20th century:

Searching up “Harrington Pharmacy” on Google brought up a few old Lantern articles mentioning the business at this address as far back as 1923. Could this be a 1920s ghost sign?