A Columbus Romanesque Mansion With a Night Sky Turret and Church Salvage Lists at $1.9 Million

Reddit described the C.E. Morris Mansion as a mix of vampire house and bishop's residence. The top comment read: "It's an amazing mid century home… mid 16th century, but still amazing." Another commenter said it's one of the coolest houses they've ever seen on here — and then noted the location absolutely blows, stuck between an office building and a gas station in Columbus. All of these things are simultaneously true. The mansion lists at $1,895,000, down $405,000 from its earlier ask.

The Mansion

Built in 1897 for Charles E. Morris — owner of Morris Ironworks, prominent real estate attorney, and president of the Hotel Lincoln Company — the mansion was constructed at a time when East Broad Street was a tree-lined boulevard of Columbus's most ornate houses. Morris lived there until 1924. It was subsequently rented as rooms and later used for commercial space before its current restoration. The National Register of Historic Places listing came in 1986. The Romanesque Revival exterior features a corner turret, tall stepped chimneys, irregular Queen Anne massing, carved stone column capitals, terracotta details, and a large stone front porch — the visual vocabulary that prompted Reddit's vampire house assessment. The interior incorporates salvaged elements from the former Indianola United Methodist Church on 17th Avenue and Summit, adding stained glass, elaborate wood carvings, and ecclesiastical architectural details throughout. The turret houses a TV room with an observatory and a night sky ceiling. There is also a section of the house in a 1950s retro style — including a red retro bathroom — which the Reddit poster preferred. Seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, thirteen rooms total, 6,649 square feet, handmade limestone walls, custom French doors, and four fireplaces complete the interior.

The Location — and the Third Floor

The Reddit poster who called the location "meh" was being generous. The mansion faces a busy stretch of East Broad Street and is surrounded by mixed-use buildings, community centers, a hospital, bus stops, and parking lots — the development pattern that tends to accumulate around historically significant buildings that outlasted their original neighborhood context. It is the most expensive property in the immediate vicinity by a significant margin. The commenter who said they need several other people to buy the home with them and only wants the third floor was expressing a sentiment that will resonate with anyone who has looked at the floor plan. At $1,895,000 — down $405,000 — for a National Register Romanesque mansion with a church-salvage interior, a turret TV room with a night sky ceiling, and a red retro bathroom, the listing is asking the right buyer to see past the gas station next door and into what the building actually is. The building is extraordinary. The gas station is not going anywhere.

The Internet Has Thoughts

Naturally, this listing caught the attention of Reddit's r/zillowgonewild community. See what people are saying about it here.

Church salvage, a night sky turret, a red retro bathroom, and a gas station next door. The building is extraordinary. $1,895,000. View the full listing here.