Owner of Heideloff Mansion Looks to Demolish the Home

After neighbors recently submitted paperwork to make the Heideloff mansion on Edgewater Drive a historic landmark, the property owners have proposed to demolish the 98-year-old home.

The owners of the home, Michael and Stacey Semaan, submitted paperwork to demolish the home at 13474 Edgewater Drive. That proposal will be heard at the city’s architectural board of review next Thursday.

Meanwhile, neighbors are attending the planning commission meeting Thursday looking to make the property the city’s fourth-ever historic landmark.

That proposal must first get the green light from the city’s planning commission in two public hearings.

The designation means that demolishing the 98-year-old home would be next to impossible.

Under the city’s ordinance, the commission will host two hearings to determine whether the property — built by a prominent Cleveland industrialist Wilfred Sly — is eligible for the designation. 

Neighbors, Mary Breiner and Jeff Weber, submitted a 20-page application, replete with photos and a historical narrative of the property — one of the largest residential properties in the city.

"It is important to show the neighborhood, as well as the greater Lakewood community think this designation should be approved since it is likely the designation will come over the objection of current property owners," said Weber in an email to his neighbors.

He's also opposed to the demolition proposal.

Michael and Stacey Semaan bought the home for $750,000 in June 2011, according to county property records.

Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development, recently called the proposal an “unusual situation.” 

Ward 3 city councilman Shawn Juris, who represents the neighborhood, said that nothing has been approved yet.

But he said he’s hopeful that there will be an outcome where both the owners and the neighbors are satisfied.

“It will work its way through the system,” he said. “Nothing has been finalized. We will see what I happens.”

The previous owners of the four-bedroom, 4.5-bath home — with a soaring foyer, grand staircase, a formal dining room overlooking a reflection pond, cherry floors and a carriage house — moved out after 30 years of ownership.

The 2.6-acre property was once eyed for a 14-home development, but those plans were scrapped in March 2011.

The new owners were approved last year to make some changes to the property, including an extensive renovation. Plans to build a second home on a second parcel, near the lake, were recently approved by the city.

Earlier this year, the Lakewood’s Planning Commission designated the 100-year-old building that once housed the a historic landmark.

However, California Phone — which owns that property — filed an appeal in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.