Places
Homes Current
277 Bratenahl Road (East 105th Street)
Plat No. 631-04-002
The home is listed in the Ohio Historic Inventory
Vera and Samuel Berger received the property from Vera’s father, Louis Grossman, on December 21, 1926. They had a 5,400 square-foot French Norman home built in 1928 on the east side of East 105th Street on the part of Vera's father's home.
William and Kathryn Suitt acquired the home on December 18, 1956. The house had six bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a double attached garage.
H. Caves and Cynthia Robinson acquired the home on November 17, 1958.
Robert and Virginia Loebsack inherited the estate on October 18, 1995, following the death of Cynthia Robinson. Unfortunately, the home was in a state of total disrepair. The Loebsacks received several low offers but chose instead to figure out just what it would take to fix it up.
J. P. Martini of Martini Construction inspected the home and suggested turning to the American Cancer Society for consideration as the 1998 Designers Showhouse, inspired by its potential and familiar with previous showhouses. As a result, the Loebsacks developed a master plan for the house.
Bob Loebsack invested about $400,000 to bring the house to “white box” condition to turn over to the interior designers within six months. He insisted on retaining and refurbishing many of the original features of the house rather than sacrifice its character for the sake of "modernizing.”
The kitchen was the only redesigned room. Contractors removed walls to convert the original servant's sitting area and pantry into one spacious room and create a more logical traffic flow from the garage and the side of the house.
Exterior improvements included repairing the swimming pool, creating sandstone patios, several backyard shade gardens, an entertainment courtyard setting, sculptures, a new front walkway, new lighting, fencing, and a sprinkler system.
In 1996, nearly 6,000 visitors toured the house, bringing $63,000 to the American Cancer Society.
The Group Therapy Institute acquired the home on November 7, 2000
Michael and Kathy Skerritt acquired the home on October 4, 2002.
Stephen and Helen Lovass acquired the home on April 17, 2018.