The Harwood Family House Was Vacant After the Printing Business Failed

The Harwood family purchased Elm Crest House on Linden Avenue in 1907 after Benjamin Harwood expanded his commercial printing company into a larger building nearby. Benjamin, his wife Ruth, their three children, and Benjamin’s unmarried sister occupied the residence, while Ruth supervised the household and managed domestic accounts. Income from newspaper contracts, business stationery, and municipal printing orders provided steady security for more than two decades.

Property assessments described the house as one of the finest homes in the neighborhood, with regular maintenance, carefully furnished rooms, and improvements completed almost every year before business conditions changed.

The first warning appeared in 1929 when two major newspaper customers cancelled their printing contracts after the economic downturn. Benjamin delayed payments to paper suppliers and received a formal demand from the bank for overdue business loans. The family dismissed their cook, closed the upper guest floor to save heating fuel, and postponed repairs to the porch roof and stained-glass stair window. Printing presses were auctioned in 1932, but the proceeds failed to satisfy creditors. After foreclosure proceedings concluded in 1934, the Harwoods moved into a smaller rented house across the city, leaving much of their furniture behind.

Elm Crest House was abandoned in 1934 after the collapse of the Harwood printing business, foreclosure, and unpaid debts made continued ownership impossible. No restoration followed, and no member of the Harwood family returned to occupy the property. Municipal records later documented uncertain ownership and several unsuccessful attempts to sell the residence. Household papers, furniture, and personal possessions remained inside as weather slowly entered through damaged roofing and broken windows. The Eastlake Victorian house still stands vacant on Linden Avenue, continuing to deteriorate without restoration or a resolved future.