Dan Brady just published an entry in his blog about this house, and its original owner, Mr. Seher, who owned a brewery in Lorain.
Me, I always knew the place as the Slattery House.
You can't see it in this picture, but there used to be a sign on the railing on the front of the house, which said, "SLATTERY MOTION PICTURES".
When I was a kid, I used to wonder just who was making movies in Lorain, and how I could get involved in it. Looking in the phone book turned up no listing for a film studio, so it remained a pleasant mystery. Any number of times, I started to go up and knock or ring the bell, but my nerve always failed me.
Finally, in the summer of '88, I had the chance to do just that- I was working for R.L. Polk, the people who put out the City Directory every year, and the Slattery house was in my assigned territory. With a skip in my step, I scampered up the walk, up the front stairs, and rang the bell.
A young woman answered....no, she said, she was not a Slattery, nor did she know them-she lived there with her husband and two children. She said that she DID know that the "motion pictures" part came from the fact that the Slatterys had made industrial films for years, so the realtor had told her.
I thanked her for her time, and vowed to return some time, and ask for a look around-which I never did. According to Google, the house is still there, on the north side of Ninth Street, just past Reid, heading west.
Looking at the photo Dan took recently ( which I nicked for my blog-thanks again, Dan!)
I wonder the same thing I'd wondered countless times as I walked or rode past the Slattery place....
HOW MUCH DID IT COST TO HEAT?
Hi Alan!
ReplyDeleteI used to wonder about that house and the big SLATTERY MOTION PICTURES sign too when I was a kid. I imagined that somewhere in the house, some chubby director (with a German accent wearing a beret and sunglasses) was yelling "ACTION!" through a megaphone at his performers!
Too bad it wasn't like that; I'd STILL like to see the inside.
ReplyDeleteHow much did it cost to heat? ....darn near nothing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved into my 1945 uninsulated colonial in 1969 I put in a gas line and heated my 32 x 32 uninsulated work shop. House at 72 and workshop at 68 and my monthly gas bill was $20.00, big whoopee.
We didn't used to worry about gasoline or natural gas prices ...boy did that end quickly.
I would really like a top to bottom tour of that place ...to me it looks like it was dropped in there as an afterthought and certainly deserves a five acre "park".
Happy New Year
Dennis
There used to be a teacher at Lorain High, Dennis Slattery, and I always wondered if he was one of those Slattery's. The talk in high school was that they made pornos over there.
ReplyDeleteYes, he is one of the Slattery's.
DeleteThere was never any point movies made There. The realtor was right. They did industrial movies and developed film from the local schools basketball and football games
DeletePorno movies
DeleteI considered that when I was about high-school age, Lisa.
ReplyDeleteMy mother worked for Mr. Seher at another home they owned... down the street, I believe. This had to be the SON, whoever he was he died in the 1960's when I was a child. My mother said that the big old brick house was beautiful and that her employer had her go in to clean it once in a while. She said the attic was FULL of antiques and eventually he just gave everything away. I think I was around 6 when he died so I have no recollection of that house, but now that I am a Realtor I'd LOVE to go through it and see the beauty my mother saw.
ReplyDeleteI went there for a ghost hunt. Supposedly the neighbors have said they see shadows in the upstairs windows and that at one time witches lived there and practiced witchcraft. The rumor I heard was someone purchased it and wanted to turn it into a jazz club. It is neat house...
ReplyDeleteNo witches, no ghost, I'm a friend of the Slattery's for 60 years. I never saw any gost.
DeleteI just noticed an error on my part; the house is on the SOUTH side of 9th.
ReplyDeleteThen, none of y'all picked up on it, either.
That's my Grandma and Grandpa's old house. I'm proud to have the Slattery last name.
ReplyDelete