Want to own Cy Young's birthplace? MLB legend's historic Ohio home is on the market
- After living on his property for 45 years, ceramic artist Tom Radca is putting the place up for sale.
- He is asking $1.2 million for the property, which includes four buildings.
- He hopes to purchase property nearby to continue his work.
After living on his 34-acre property at 15216 Grove Road SE in eastern Ohio for 45 years, ceramic artist Tom Radca has decided it is time to downsize and move his studio to another location.
"I actually thought I would be living here until I was horizontal and stiff," he said of his house. "So, when my daughter asked me to move four or five years ago, I was stunned. Everything in here I've done with these hands and the hands of other people. At the beginning of 2024, I began throwing the idea around of maybe it's time to move."
He added, "It is just an incredible place."
The house, the birthplace of baseball legend Denton "Cy" Young, has been extensively expanded and remodeled. The core of the structure is an 1835-era log cabin, with the original logs still visible in the kitchen and the living room. It includes a sun porch that Radca expanded and a log addition that he had put on. The addition has a bathroom complete with shower and bathtub. The walls of the bathroom are decorated with original ceramic tiles that he helped make.
The interior of the home is decorated with artwork that Radca has traded for or collected from around the world.
Elsewhere on the property is a former horse barn that he has converted into an Airbnb. The lodge has five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a utility room and kitchen. It can sleep up to 10 people.
On a hill above the house and the lodge is more two buildings ‒ one that houses his kiln where he fires his ceramic works and the other houses his studio.
There was a pond along the long driveway leading to his house.
The asking price is $1.2 million.
He said he envisions the perfect buyers to be a retired couple looking for a place to live and using the Airbnb for extra income.
A long career in ceramics
Radca, 73, a Cleveland native and an Air Force veteran, was living in Columbus when he purchased the Perry Township property as a better home for his family, which includes a son and two daughters.
During his first six years at his new home, he planted 3,000 trees a year ‒ red oak, white oak, tulip poplar, green ash and pine.
Radca has always wanted to do something he loved, influenced by his father, who did not like his job.
"So, I said to myself, I don't care how much money I make, I want to have a job that I love. I want to wake up, and I want to go to it. So, I'm not telling you that there were not ups and downs in my career, like seven years of making mugs, cups, bowls, dinnerware," he said.
His work was greatly influenced by instruction from another artist, Norm Schulman, who was a guest instructor at The Ohio State University in the 1980s. "He was a godsend to me. He turned my clay world around," Radca said.
He was also influenced by time he spent in Bangkok, Thailand, where he had an exhibition 28 years ago.
What he makes
Radca makes architectural ceramics. He used to make 35-inch diameter plats ‒ some of which could weigh up to 36 pounds ‒ but his health won't permit that anymore. He now makes smaller pieces ‒ tile and pots.
He sells his work at art fairs around the country.
He is assisted in his work by a neighbor, Margit Stewart, who specializes in making tiles. They have worked together for about 25 years. "This place rock and rolls because of her. She has been a godsend to me," he said.
Recently, they have been working on a commission to create a 6 by 12 foot tile water wall for the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce in Millersburg.
When Radca relocates his studio to a new location, he won't be moving far from his current Grove Road location because Stewart is essential to his work.
And he has no plans to retire from working with ceramics. "I will do that until I am horizontal and stiff. It is a passion that I have," he said.
"I'm still loving my work. If I wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning, I'll just go up and take a peek in that kiln because it's so exciting to me."
Information on purchasing the property
People can contact Radca to learn more about the property or his work at his website, tomradca.com.
Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.