Tiffany Sokol, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp.’s housing director, stands in front of a 19th century Victorian home on Old Furnace Drive in Youngstown during an open house Wednesday at the residence....Correspondent photo / Sean Barron

YOUNGSTOWN — For Anthony Appugliese, having stepped inside of a 19th century historic home likely felt as much like a reunion as a one-time showing.

“The last time I was in this house, I was 9 and selling candy bars for school,” Appugliese, 59, of Poland, fondly recalled.

Sweetening things a bit for him was an open house Wednesday at the residence next to Mill Creek Park at 900 Old Furnace Road, which underwent several months of extensive renovations and upgrades.

Hosting the 90-minute gathering was the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., which partnered with the park and the city of Youngstown.

A steady flow of foot traffic visited the two-story Victorian home that was placed on the market Tuesday. The asking price is $250,000.

Accompanying Appugliese was his mother, Renate, who, with her husband, Andrew, have lived across the street from the historic home since 1971. Anthony Appugliese recalled that the house had been renovated in the 1980s, and that a large room and double-car garage were added. Before that, the garage was down the hill in the park, he remembered.

“They put a lot of money into it, possibly $60,000,” Appugliese said.

Tiffany Sokol, YNDC’s housing director, noted that Robert and Isabelle Hamilton built the home between 1860 and 1874 before the park bought it around 1890. It had been used as a YMCA clubhouse as well as the Mill Creek Park superintendent’s residence for many years. After that, the home sat vacant for nearly 20 years, she explained.

“The park made the decision and was ready to let go of the house into the hands of someone who would renovate it and bring it back to productive use,” Sokol said. “It’s a quality home for a family, yet we wanted to maintain its historic character.”

Since YNDC began work on the home earlier this year, it has received numerous electrical upgrades, a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system and insulation. Additional renovations were done to the roof, siding, windows, doors, hardwood floors, kitchen counters and the full basement, she continued.

The two-story residence has three upstairs bedrooms, two newly-remodeled full bathrooms, a combined living room and sunroom, a dining room with built-in china cabinets, a kitchen with an attached butler’s pantry thought to have been a library, the basement with two access points and plenty of storage space that includes twin spacious closets in the master bedroom.

Most of the walls were repainted with neutral colors that are mainly soft green and light beige.

Sokol expressed concern regarding what the home’s fate could have been had YNDC not acquired it from the city, with the agreement that the agency would handle the renovations then sell it.

“With homes like this, the longer they stay vacant, without any investment, the greater the chance of being demolished,” she said.

Ian Beniston, YNDC’s executive director, noted that careful landscaping had been done to the yard that abuts the park. Such work to the home, which also has an attached outdoor front porch, has added to its ambiance, partly because it’s the first one motorists see as they ascend the hill from nearby Pioneer Pavilion, he explained.

Thanks to the work, the impression created “presents well for the Old Furnace neighborhood,” Beniston said, adding that efforts were made throughout the process to respect the residence’s history and preserve its character.

The months of renovations and upgrades have won the hearts of many people who visited Wednesday, including Appugliese and his mother.

“I’m into remodeling and this has been done up right,” he said.

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