Preserving the historic home of A.C. Ernst and celebrating its EY ties

Step inside the lovingly restored Alwin C. Ernst House, first owned by the Ernst & Ernst founder.

In brief

• The Alwin C. Ernst House was first owned by A.C. Ernst, who founded one of the building blocks of today’s EY organization.
• The home is now owned by an EY alumnus, whose respectful renovation received an award from Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
  

Finding a home can be a journey filled with twists and turns, but sometimes the destination is more surprising than expected. When Don Kimble, EY alumnus and recently retired CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of KeyCorp, and his wife Becky moved to the greater Cleveland area in 2013, they came across a house that has an enduring connection to the EY organization and its history.

What did the home require in terms of renovation and modernization?

We knew the home was going to require a lot of work and were eager to bring the necessary attention to every last detail, but the scope expanded greatly as we started the renovation. When we opened up the kitchen and bathrooms, we realized the infrastructure needed to be reinforced, so we replaced more than 30 beams. As we did this, we had to support the first floor with temporary poles. Then the plaster walls on the second floor all started to crack, requiring us to replace all of the walls and much of the flooring.

That was just the beginning. The home had only 100 amps of electrical service, so we had to purchase additional capacity from the electric company. To give you some sense of those limitations, before that update was made, you could not run a window air conditioner and a hair dryer at the same time. With the walls open upstairs and the new electric capacity, we decided to replace all of the heating, air conditioning, electric and plumbing. This also allowed us to renovate the kitchen and all of the bathrooms, all while ensuring that we preserved the historical look and feel of the home.

What elements of the renovation are you especially proud of?

The remodeling involved many skilled craftsmen to restore the home’s character and maintain its integrity. It was amazing to see the work of the plaster experts, the woodworking done by the Amish and the attention to detail from all of the team. This was especially true with a room in our basement restored by our contractor Residence Artists, who recrafted the linenfold woodwork and rebuilt the bay windows. It’s now one of our favorite rooms in the house.

We also love the individual gardens and park-like features surrounding the home. Impullitti, our landscaper, incorporated the property’s existing historic aspects while adding new features that look like they were always there. For example, we added a fountain several years ago, and it’s such a good fit that the family members of previous owners have told us stories about remembering photographs of their relatives in front of our new fountain! This confirmed that our renovation is consistent with the home’s original character.

Are there any other noteworthy stories you’ve encountered while owning the house?

As we were renovating the den, we found a letter one of the Ernst daughters wrote to her younger sister. The older sister described her great experience at a boarding school and encouraged her younger sister to join her. This letter helped personalize the home and some of its first owners.

What will you miss most about the Ernst house if you were to move?

We love this home and hate to think about leaving it, but we would like to move closer to our children and grandchildren. We still walk through the home and constantly challenge whether we really want to leave. We love everything about the house and the gardens and all the memories we’ve created here, but we also realize we have been a caretaker for the property and will want to turn it over to the next caretaker to follow us.