The Urbietas spent seven months rebuilding the house, using the city’s budget of roughly $80,000 along with $20,000 of their own. “A lot of remodelers lost money,” Carmen says. “Juan tends to be a perfectionist, and he wanted it to have certain chandeliers” that were appropriate for a house its age, while incorporating contemporary features such as a skylight, and wider halls and stairways.
Despite the financial loss, the project suggested the profit-making potential of buying and restoring old properties. When the eight homes of Rehabarama were listed for sale, 129 Ringgold received several offers. Osgood says the program raised property values 25% in the Huffman Historic Area and triggered the subsequent renovation of dozens of other properties.
Equally importantly, the Urbietas learned that they had a knack for this kind of work and the patience to do it right. “They just exceeded our expectations with that first house,” says Osgood, who was then president of the Huffman Historic Society. Juan says he went into 129 Ringgold knowing little about historic properties, but he came out revering their structural integrity and decorative charm. “I see history in them,” he says. “Give me an old building that nobody wants, and in 30 minutes I can walk out with that building almost finished in my head. I don’t care how bad it is; as long as it has a good foundation, I can bring it back to life.” Creating a Showcase Restoring neglected old buildings can be a treacherous business. Mildew, termites, and rot often lurk beneath warping floorboards and chipping plaster. Antiquated materials and finishes — leaded-glass windows, hand-molded bricks, pressed-metal cornices — can be impossible to replace, and expensive and painstaking to repair. Decades of neglect and abuse magnify the challenges, and each of the subsequent projects the Urbietas undertook in the Huffman Historic Area had seen their share of neglect and abuse.
Take 1725 E. Third St., which dates from the 1860s. Today, the gloriously restored Italianate Victorian is home to Urbieta Construction, with an additional office space and two-bedroom apartment on the upper level. When the Urbietas first saw the building in 1996, however, it had been ravaged by fire in an arson that killed two elderly boarders. Neighbors rescued the building from demolition and then sold it for $18,000 to the Urbietas, who quickly repaired the façade before taking five years to complete the rest of the project. The Urbietas worked mainly on weekends, Carmen says, so they could devote weekdays to income-generating projects ( see “Leveraging Future Growth”).
When possible, the Urbietas preserved the original elements of 1725 E. Third. The brick exterior, for example, primarily needed repainting, and the 8-foot door and 7-foot window openings are original. When the damage was irreparable, they reconstructed. The fire spared little of the curved interior staircase, for instance, so Juan used a planer and lathe to fabricate a new handrail and spindles from pine and birch, respectively. Most of the elaborate metal window hoods and brackets required little more than shoring up and painting, but the fire destroyed those in the back part of the building. Juan traced their pattern and created copies made from wood and plaster.
While keeping 1725 E. Third true to its style, the Urbietas also modernized and personalized the building. Subtly integrated into the exterior is a wheelchair ramp lined with curvaceous concrete balusters made from a mold they found in a catalog. Each is 80 or 90 pounds of concrete, Juan says. He made them two at a time, using rebar in each for support and strength. The interior reflects the couple’s Mexican heritage, with such items as a hand-painted sink and hand-woven tapestries purchased during their visits to Mexico. Carmen says that the fully operable wooden interior shutters, which Juan made, “remind me of my grandmother’s old Colonial house in Mexico City.”
Even Juan’s seemingly precise reproductions have a personal touch. He introduces deliberate, nearly imperceptible differences such as a slightly larger detail in one of his window brackets “to prove to people that I made them,” he says. “They have to be at least 95% matched, or I’m not happy.” The additional 5%, he says, is “my originality.”
Adopting the Long View With each subsequent project in the Huffman area, the Urbietas learned how to do things a bit more economically and a bit faster. “Old plaster ceilings and walls, and sometimes even floors … we just take all that stuff out,” Carmen says, leaving little but the load-bearing walls and salvaging original details for reuse. “Then it’s just like new construction, so we can put in all-new electrical and plumbing.” Extensive gutting makes dumpsters one of the Urbietas’ biggest expenses. The demolition phase of an ambitious project now underway — “The Angels” mixed-use development across from their office —filled more than a dozen dumpsters, “with more to go,” Juan says.
They also learned some shopping tricks. “My husband loves to shop,” Carmen says. Juan cultivates relationships with the pro staff at The Home Depot and at Lowe’s to stay apprised of items that have been discounted or discontinued. It’s not unusual for him to buy a dozen ceiling fans or light fixtures, which he knows he’ll eventually use.
Similarly, when Juan needs a lot of a material, such as hardwood or granite, he says, “I go to the stores and ask them what they have for sale. If they don’t have anything, I ask them to call their supplier.” Rather than buying solid slab granite, he buys it in 12-inch squares, which is about 80% to 85% less expensive and achieves nearly the same visual impact.
What the Urbietas don’t compromise on is historic authenticity. Walking through the apartments under construction at The Angels, Juan points out the 10-inch baseboards, exposed brick walls, crown moldings, and solid-core doors, among other original features. “When I cut something out” of an old building, “it has to look like it was always there” when he reinstalls it. “I don’t know how to cut corners.”
That reverence for the past is a key reason the Urbietas’ Huffman investments are likely to pay off. Mike Osgood explains that shortsighted investors who aim to quickly flip an old house for a quick profit “will come in and completely miss the nature of historic properties. They’ll tear out incredibly beautiful woodwork” and replace old windows with new windows that don’t even meet code requirements. “Buyers don’t want that,” he says. “They want historic character. That’s the biggest risk — a misunderstanding of what the market wants.”
Juan and Carmen acknowledge that their work is also risky, but “this is an investment for the long haul,” Carmen says. Downtown Dayton has improved dramatically in recent years, with young professionals and empty nesters flocking to loft-style apartments. Third Street is the main artery connecting the city to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, with 20,000 employees. And urban pioneers —artists, young families, singles, and couples — are repopulating Huffman.
“As long as we keep renting our apartments,” Juan says, “I’ll keep doing more in this neighborhood.” In the meantime, he and Carmen have declined offers from real estate investors who want to buy their refurbished properties. “I want to keep these for maybe 20 years,” Juan says, “and this one,” gesturing to his office, “for life.”