51 West Blenkner Street - Unit 202 2 bed, 2 bath
Schlee Bavarian Brewery
A new listing by fab realtor Regina Acosta Tobin!
Chic Brewery District Condo in the historic Schlee Malt House building has it all! Open floor plan, 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, high ceilings, exposed brick walls throughout, log wood burning fireplace, assigned covered parking, dining room and more. New AC and furnace in 2018, plumbing 2019.
Along with seeing the unit, enjoy some history of the building that originally operated as a brewery.
Schlee Bavarian Brewery
A new listing by fab realtor Regina Acosta Tobin!
Chic Brewery District Condo in the historic Schlee Malt House building has it all! Open floor plan, 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, high ceilings, exposed brick walls throughout, log wood burning fireplace, assigned covered parking, dining room and more. New AC and furnace in 2018, plumbing 2019.
Along with seeing the unit, enjoy some history of the building that originally operated as a brewery.
Living room with wood burning fireplace.
History from ArtsinOhio.com:
At its height the Schlee Bavarian Brewery was tied with the Born Brewery for second largest in Columbus, after the Hoster Brewery. Its buildings span two city blocks, giving you an idea of how massive these brewing operations were in what was once the densest industrial district in Columbus. Schlee’s is the only brewery to remain fully intact, with the main building, malt house, stable, and bottling plant still standing. The building was renovated in the 1980’s, and the upper levels now house condominiums.
At its height the Schlee Bavarian Brewery was tied with the Born Brewery for second largest in Columbus, after the Hoster Brewery. Its buildings span two city blocks, giving you an idea of how massive these brewing operations were in what was once the densest industrial district in Columbus. Schlee’s is the only brewery to remain fully intact, with the main building, malt house, stable, and bottling plant still standing. The building was renovated in the 1980’s, and the upper levels now house condominiums.
Living room with tall windows overlooking Blenkner Street.
Open dining area between living room and kitchen.
History from: GraystoneColumbus.com
The roots of the Bavarian Brewery, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, can be traced to two German immigrants who arrived here in the 1830s: John Blenkner and his son-in-law George Schlegel. They founded a Bavarian Brewery. The brewery prospered for several years until 1856, when George Schlegel bought out his father-in-law and expanded the brewery. Then, with prosperity on the horizon, George Schlegel promptly contracted typhoid fever and died in December of 1856, leaving the business to his wife, Margaret, and their four children, all under the age of six.
The roots of the Bavarian Brewery, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, can be traced to two German immigrants who arrived here in the 1830s: John Blenkner and his son-in-law George Schlegel. They founded a Bavarian Brewery. The brewery prospered for several years until 1856, when George Schlegel bought out his father-in-law and expanded the brewery. Then, with prosperity on the horizon, George Schlegel promptly contracted typhoid fever and died in December of 1856, leaving the business to his wife, Margaret, and their four children, all under the age of six.
View from dining area to living room.
Margaret and her father soon realized their need for a professional Braumeister to take charge of the family business. They wrote to their relatives in Bavaria, asking for help. Their prayers were answered in the form of twenty-four year old Nicholas Schlee, who arrived here in January of 1860, having just completed his training in the Bavarian Steigerwald as a master brewer. Young Nicholas, the nephew of George Schlegel, was apparently a man of great personal resources who pursued his goals with single-minded intent. By April of 1860 he had won the heart of his Aunt (by marriage) Margaret, and they were married on April 19, barely three months after his arrival. Margaret gave birth to their son, Theodore, the following year.
The kitchen.
History from ArtsinOhio.com:
A prudent man with an intuitive business sense, Nicholas Schlee frequently expanded his business. This is evident in the main building, which was constructed piecemeal, with the earliest section completed in 1875. It features an arched entrance on the Front Street façade, framed by limestone voussoirs … or wedge-shaped blocks usually made of stone … that line an arch or vault. A raised ashlar stone foundation supports the structure, which is mostly utilitarian, but does exhibit some elements of the Italianate style, such as brick hood molds over the windows. The building features stone-lined cellars with arched ceilings for beer storage and aging. At the time, it also housed two 35-ton refrigeration machines because Schlee was an early convert to this new technology. When production was in full swing, the brewery used 18 delivery wagons, 45 horses, 60,000 pounds of hops, and 80,000 bushels of malt to churn out 50,000 barrels per year.
A prudent man with an intuitive business sense, Nicholas Schlee frequently expanded his business. This is evident in the main building, which was constructed piecemeal, with the earliest section completed in 1875. It features an arched entrance on the Front Street façade, framed by limestone voussoirs … or wedge-shaped blocks usually made of stone … that line an arch or vault. A raised ashlar stone foundation supports the structure, which is mostly utilitarian, but does exhibit some elements of the Italianate style, such as brick hood molds over the windows. The building features stone-lined cellars with arched ceilings for beer storage and aging. At the time, it also housed two 35-ton refrigeration machines because Schlee was an early convert to this new technology. When production was in full swing, the brewery used 18 delivery wagons, 45 horses, 60,000 pounds of hops, and 80,000 bushels of malt to churn out 50,000 barrels per year.
Primary bedroom.
Schlee’s was the only brewery located on the east side of Front Street, without direct access to the railroad. This proved to be a handicap for his business, as rail was essential in receiving supplies and shipping out the final product. The Hoster Brewery, for example, received 30 railroad cars of Hocking Valley coal per day.
Primary bedroom's attached full bathroom.
Note the tracks that cross Front Street at Beck and continue eastward all the way to Wall Street. These are small gauge tracks whose cars were moved by horse or manpower, unlike railroad cars. They were used to transport anything that needed to be moved between the Schlee brewery buildings and the railroad line—with the exception of beer, which was transported via tunnel under Front Street.
These tracks, like the ones on Vine Street at North Market, are usually preserved in historic districts so that the industrial nature of the area is remembered, even if they are no longer used.
These tracks, like the ones on Vine Street at North Market, are usually preserved in historic districts so that the industrial nature of the area is remembered, even if they are no longer used.
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Second bedroom.
History from: GraystoneColumbus.com
By the end of the 1870s, five breweries operated in the district, down from a height of thirteen, even though total production had actually increased.
By the end of the 1870s, five breweries operated in the district, down from a height of thirteen, even though total production had actually increased.
Second full bathroom.
The 1890s saw the heyday of the brewing industry in Columbus, as well as continued consolidation due to modernization. The three remaining breweries, Hoster, Capitol, and the Bavarian, had total production which was thirteen times that of 1870, with beer shipped to most of the surrounding states. However, storm clouds were on the horizon.
Utility closet.
By the turn of the century the market had begun to deteriorate due to competition from Cincinnati and other area breweries, as well as the increasing success of the Temperance Movement, which began in Westerville, Ohio in 1827. In response to these challenges the remaining breweries merged into the Hoster- Columbus Associated Breweries Company in 1904. The new combined company proved unable, however, to weather the storm. In 1908 an Ohio county option law went into effect which resulted in fifty-seven Ohio counties being dry by the end of the year. In 1914 state prohibition went into effect in West Virginia, where fully half of the beer produced in Columbus was being distributed. Nicholas Schlee, by then a director in the new company, died in 1914, and by the end of the year the company was in receivership. The combined breweries struggled on for a few more years, but in 1918, as a “war conservation measure”, the production of beer was entirely prohibited and the proud era of German brewing in Columbus came to a conclusive end. The company struggled on for some time, producing ice and soft drinks, but finally dissolved in 1924 and the remaining real estate was disposed of.
Covered parking.
The building and the surrounding area fell into disrepair. In 1980 the Edwards family began to restore the buildings in the area as part of a movement toward urban renewal and historical preservation, and work on the Schlee brewery building began in 1989.
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HOUSE 51 West Bleckner Street ISSUE XIII
