Places

Homes Past

9432 Lake Shore Boulevard "White's Corner"

Plat No. 631-02-014
Sublot 3 in the Adams & Burton Allotment
9432 Lake Shore Boulevard "White's Corner"
9432 Lake Shore Boulevard "White's Corner"

Windsor and Delia White acquired four acres from Delia’s father, Liberty Holden, on March 15, 1907, and built a classic 22-room Victorian-style clapboard home. The estate was known as White’s corner due to being located where Louis Avenue (Lake Shore Boulevard) took a sharp right turn onto Salisbury Avenue ((Holden Lane). The estate had a tennis court and a big barn with a garage at ground level and a caretaker’s house above.

Frederick and Lulu Ball, acquired the White estate April 15, 1924, when Windsor and Delia moved to Halfred Farms in Hunting Valley. The Balls added a swimming pool and a greenhouse with a palm room and two extra rooms for potting and growing. They heated it by hooking up with a pipe under the driveway to a furnace in the garage.

Cuyahoga County acquired a portion of the property on April 5, 1946, for the construction of the Lakeland Freeway. They took a two-story frame garage, auxiliary greenhouse, tool shed, a swimming pool with a bathhouse, and the tennis court.

Paul and Myrtle Affeldt acquired the home from Frederick and Lulu Ball on January 16, 1947.

Hugo and Doris Bouse acquired the home from Cleveland Trust on September 30, 1949

John and Mildred Bubna and John and Agnes Robison acquired the home on June 19, 1950.

Glenn and Ada Clara Porter acquired the home on August 18, 1950.

Donald and Mary Mortimer acquired the manor home from Dayton and Ada Clara Cupp on January 16, 1962.

John and Mary Washington acquired the manor home on May 3, 1972. A fire destroyed the home on May 30, 1973. John Washington had been separated from his wife, and neither was living in the home at the time of the fire. The house had been under surveillance by federal narcotics agents, so there was a possibility that the fire had been deliberately set by someone who had received the wrong end of a drug deal.

The fire raised the question of replacing the village's 70-year-old fire hydrants. Brantenahl contracted with Cleveland for fire service. The assistant fire chief for Cleveland said his men would have been able to save the house if there had been enough water pressure for six fire hoses available.

However, since the water mains were encrusted with rust, very little water flowed through the pumper. As a result, only two fire hoses could be used. Firefighters had to concentrate on wetting a rear area of the house and a carriage house that had not caught fire.