The Whitaker Mansion on Elmwood Avenue

The Whitaker family established their mansion on Elmwood Avenue in 1932 after Charles Whitaker expanded his publishing company and commissioned the unusual Tudor Revival residence. Three generations lived there, including Charles, his wife Margaret, their children, and later grandchildren who shared the large urban home. The family income came from newspaper publishing, printing contracts, and advertising investments across the region.

City records describe the mansion as a carefully maintained residence with active use of the library, offices, and upper bedrooms during the years when the Whitaker business remained stable.

The first warning sign appeared in 1947 when Whitaker Publishing recorded declining circulation numbers and overdue payments from advertisers. As printed newspapers faced increasing competition after the war, Charles reduced employees and closed several unused bedrooms in the tower wing. Repairs to the pewter roof, metal balconies, and stone carvings were postponed while debts accumulated. After Charles’s death in 1950, disagreements among heirs delayed decisions about ownership. By 1953, unpaid taxes, business loans, and estate disputes forced the remaining family members to leave Elmwood Avenue while creditors reviewed the property.

The Whitaker Mansion was abandoned in 1954 after foreclosure followed years of publishing decline, unpaid debts, and unresolved inheritance matters. No restoration occurred, and no Whitaker descendants returned after leaving Elmwood Avenue. Municipal records noted failed ownership transfers and continued deterioration of the vacant residence. The interior rooms remained closed, preserving newspapers, business records, and household furnishings left behind. Over the decades, moisture, weather exposure, and structural wear affected the brick walls, roof, and decorative features. The Tudor Revival and Art Deco mansion remains empty on the older residential street, slowly deteriorating without restoration or confirmed future use.