Historic 1876 Brick Victorian Homestead – Offered at $299,000

This 2,112-square-foot historic brick Victorian farmhouse, constructed in 1876, is located at 7298 Akron Rd in the rural community of Sterling, Ohio (Zip Code 44276). Situated on an expansive 5.15-acre country lot, this two-story property features four bedrooms and two full bathrooms. Priced at $299,000, the estate stands out as a unique historic preservation opportunity in Wayne County, pairing a massively over-engineered solid masonry shell and rare, untouched old-growth timber millwork with an exceptionally rare free natural gas utility supply asset.

The home makes a commanding historic statement, set amidst rolling acreage along Route 585. An adorable covered side porch serves as a welcoming primary entry sequence into the 2,112-square-foot floor plan. The main living level features grand vertical scale, defined by soaring 10-foot ceilings, oversized architectural doorways, and tall window frames that drench the interior common rooms in natural light.

The living layout is distributed across two traditional levels to maximize functional spatial separation:

Main Level: Anchors a formal living parlor, a central dining hall, a large country kitchen providing extensive counter space, a convenient main-floor bedroom chamber, a full bathroom, and a dedicated first-floor laundry center.

Upper Level: Accommodates three additional ample bedrooms and a secondary full family bathroom.

The Backyard Oasis: Located directly behind the residence is a private, pavered patio terrace completely enclosed and framed by mature perennial flower beds.

🪵 Irreplaceable Artisan Materials & Heavy Masonry Fabric

The home is an absolute treasure for historic purists, showcasing premium, highly durable materials that survived the turn-of-the-century logging era:

The 18″ Exterior Wall Matrix: Defying standard timber frame conventions, the home’s outer perimeter is built with 18-inch thick solid brick masonry walls. This substantial density acts as a massive thermal flywheel, muting exterior noise and providing extraordinary structural insulation.

Old-Growth Chestnut Masterwork: Virtually all of the home’s interior woodwork—including the solid doors, window casings, baseboards, and formal wall wainscoting—is crafted from solid American Chestnut. Because the chestnut blight completely decimated these native trees in the early 20th century, these pristine interior finishes represent an irreplaceable historic asset.

Black Walnut Parlor Floors: Breaking from the chestnut layout, the formal living room parlor features solid Black Walnut flooring, highlighting the home’s original status as a luxury rural estate.

💵 Free Utility Asset & Strategic Mechanical Status

Bypassing a massive percentage of the steep operating overhead costs standardly associated with 150-year-old farmhouses, this property boasts a phenomenal financial advantage:

🔥 Free Lifetime Fuel Supply: The property features a fully functional, free natural gas connection sourced straight from an on-site gas well that is shared fee-simple with a handful of immediate neighbors. This eliminates the home’s seasonal winter heating bills.

Capitalized Infrastructural Updates: The home has benefited from substantial recent baseline updates by its current stewards, including a new central forced-air gas furnace (2022), a new domestic hot water storage tank (2022), a new septic aeration system (2022), a new architectural roof envelope (2017), new gutters and eaves troughs (2022), and a brand-new stainless refrigerator and cooking stove set (both installed 2025).

📋 Property Specifications

💰 Price: $299,000

📍 Address: 7298 Akron Rd, Sterling, OH 44276

📐 Interior Size: 2,112 livable sqft (Plus a full, unfinished subterranean footprint)

🌳 Lot Size: 5.154 Acres (224,508 sqft / Irregular country parcel)

🛏️ Bedrooms: 4 (1 on the main floor, 3 positioned upstairs)

🛁 Bathrooms: 2 Full Baths (1 per finished level)

🏗️ Year Built: 1876 (150 Years of Preservation History)

🧱 Construction Details: 18-inch load-bearing solid brick exterior veneer

🪵 Irreplaceable Elements: Complete American Chestnut woodwork & doors; solid Black Walnut living room flooring

🔥 Utility Asset: Direct connection to a shared natural gas well providing free heat fuel

🚙 Parking Infrastructure: Attached 2-car garage with an unpaved, long driveway track

⚙️ Core Utilities: New furnace (2022), new hot water heater (2022), new aerator (2022), private well, and septic system

🏫 School District: Green Local School District (Wayne County – Smithville High boundaries)

🔍 Real Estate Advisory, Disclosures & Financing Terms

The property is positioned competitively at $299,000 to directly account for remaining historic rehabilitation needs and is being sold strictly in its current as-is condition. Before coordinating viewings or structured contract drafting, conventional buyers and restoration professionals must underwrite the following parameters:

🚫 Strict Financing Constraints: Due to the home sitting over a traditional, historic full dirt-floor basement foundation, this property is completely ineligible for government-backed FHA, USDA, or VA loan products. Contracts must move forward via specialized cash reserves or conventional financing portfolios.

⚡ Upper Electrical & Plaster Scope: True to its 1876 configuration, the upper level contains a total of only two active electrical outlet blocks. The incoming owner will want to wire in a modern secondary electrical loop to upper bedrooms and finish minor historic plaster repair work where old hairline moisture patterns occurred upstairs.

🧱 Minor Exterior Brick Masonry Spalling: There is a isolated area along the thick outer brick walls requiring a standard mortar repointing and traditional brick patch repair to protect the masonry envelope long-term.

📅 Extended Closing Request: To facilitate an organized transition, the seller requests an explicit 45-day closing window timeline built into the standard purchase contract.

🏛️ Investment & Acreage Potential Explained

🌾 5.15-Acre Mini-Farm Homestead Canvas: With more than five acres of private country soil in Wayne County, the property offers an ideal framework to establish large organic vegetable fields, set up standalone outbuildings, or establish small livestock pastures right along Route 585.

📈 Built-In Structural Equity Margin: Sourcing a 150-year-old brick manor that already has a new furnace, a young roof (2017), and free heat fuel allows a buyer to safely isolate their budget. Capital can be allocated directly into high-impact interior cosmetics and localized rewiring rather than basic structural emergencies.

📍 Idyllic Country Lifestyle with Commuter Links: Nestled inside the highly rated Green Local School District (Smithville schools), residents enjoy a serene country setting within minutes of local historic downtowns, public parks, and agricultural markets, while maintaining direct driving loops to downtown Wooster, Akron, and corporate employment hubs via nearby Route 585 and I-76.