the strong farmhouse, circa 1865

We can all agree that life has changed so much over the past 2+ years.  Changed in ways we could never have imagined.  Priorities have shifted, loved ones have been lost, and the new normal is that nothing will ever be “normal” again.  Sigh.  Throughout 2 years of pandemic “lockdowns” we saw unprecedented real estate activity in this country.  Record shortages and rising home prices.  To say that Arlen, David and I have been hopping to keep up with everything is an understatement.  We have worked very hard for our sellers to not only get them the best price, but to position their properties in the market to expose them to buyers who see the most value in them through our extensive social media marketing and our websites cincinnatimodern.com and amberlleyvillagehomes.com. 

At the root of everything is HOME.  Lockdowns and isolation have made us all look a little more closely at our nesting needs and wants.  Work at home days are no longer few and far between, but have become part of many people’s normal routine.  The need and demand for homes with flexible live/work spaces is at an all time high.  The need for a house with 4 bedrooms plus a home office was what drove our home search when we bought our current home. 

Arlen and I made the choice 25 years ago to raise our family in Amberley Village.  We chose the village for many reasons:  Arlen grew up here (and at the time his parents were still living here), it has a perfectly central location (pretty much the bullseye in the I-275 circumferential), there is a plethora of midcentury modern architecture here, the neighborhood is in our target school district (Cincinnati Public Schools), and the homes are affordable.  

Benefits that we didn’t even realize at the time have kept us here for the long haul: amazing police & public works departments who work tirelessly to make this a safe place to live and drive; accessible village administration and council; great recreation options within the village; and a stable and diverse population who all feel the same way about where we live.  No one who lives here can figure out why it seems to be greater Cincinnati’s best kept secret.  

My favorite COVID memory was our weekly happy hours with our immediate neighbors, as we all sat at the end of our respective driveways and kept a safe social distance while chatting in disbelief about what was going as we sipped adult beverages.  

Our command of the midcentury modern market has been cultivated over the past 19 years and is undeniable.  But our love of architecture (of all kinds) has made us appreciate our neighborhood so much though the years.  We happen to live in the first Amberley subdivision, Brookwood.  It was developed beginning around 1935 (before the village was even incorporated in 1940) by Robert O. Strong, a real estate developer and broker.  Mr. Strong was then the third or fourth generation owner of his family’s homestead, 111 acres on Section Rd. purchased by his ancestors from John Symmes (part of the Symmes Purchase).  The original 1865 Strong Farmhouse became the centerpiece of this neighborhood as it was divided into 1 acre+ lots and winding roads were cut through.  The Strong’s home ended up on our street, Willowbrook, where you guessed it – there was a giant willow tree and a lovely meandering brook.  There was a giant oak tree at the top of the hill on Oak Ridge.  The flat street adjacent to the creek in the middle of the neighborhood is Meadowbrook.  Fair Oaks is lined with all varieties of oak trees.  Tiny Brookwood Lane is the namesake of the neighborhood. 

My mad research skills have pulled up all kinds of information on the history of the neighborhood, mainly through ads for the homes as they were built and put on the market.  The striking shift in mood as center hall Colonials with room for live in servants made way for WWII (choose your homesite now and build after the war when materials are available), to post war housing that featured ranch layouts and family rooms as tastes and needs of homebuyers changed.  There were also shocking references to it being a “highly restricted” neighborhood, which immediately sets any Realtor into a panic as fair housing laws are so ingrained in our being.  Thankfully, restricted neighborhoods are a thing of the past and are just a reminder of how far we have come.  With the need for work at home spaces on the rise, these old spacious homes are once again all the rage. 

We were beyond honored when our longtime neighbor, Karol, called us to list the house her family has called home for the past 57 years.  It is the original Strong House, a house we have driven by and admired several times a day for the past 25 years, the house so steeped in local history.  This listing, and the intense demand for Amberley Village Homes, inspired us to have our friend (and designer of this website) Pam Roberts come up with a logo for us to use for our amberleyvillagehomes.com website.  Because let’s face it, while cincinnatimodern works for most of our listings, we do sell all kinds of architecture, and Amberley Village is our love and our home.  It deserves its own identity.   We are very happy with the verdant and pastoral look of the logo.  Exactly what we were going for.  

If you are interested in the Strong House or any other village properties, please contact us.  If you would like to explore what the village has to offer, follow our page Amberley Village Homes on Facebook.  And visit amberleyvillagehomes.com for real time info on ALL properties for sale in the village, as well as deep dive info on our listings and other info about the village.  And as always, we’d love to talk to you if you are looking to buy or sell.  Maybe Amberley Village will not be Cincinnati’s best kept secret for long as we continue match up sellers with buyers who see the value in what they have!