PNC SmartHome, a museum exhibit turned residence, sells to Maryland couple for $331,000

Posted April 11, 2012 in Articles

Author: Michelle Jarboe McFee

A museum exhibit dedicated to saving and recycling energy has, itself, found new life -- as the Cleveland home of a Maryland couple.

Martin and Jocelyn Schaffer came to Cleveland in February for a weekend visit with their son Michael and his family, who live in University Heights.

By the end of the trip, the couple had a deal to buy one of Northeast Ohio's most unusual houses, a three-bedroom colonial that started its life next to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and landed on a vacant lot on Wade Park Avenue.

On March 21, the Schaffers bought the former PNC SmartHome, paying $331,000 for a house that cost more than twice that to build and move. During its four-month run as a museum exhibit, the house attracted nearly 10,000 visitors and garnered national attention as a hands-on demonstration of innovative building techniques.

"Part of the proof of concept here was that we could build the most energy-efficient house in Northeast Ohio and sell it in the real estate market," said David Beach, director of the museum's GreenCityBlueLake Institute. "So this was not an academic exercise. We were building a real house that people would want to live in."

Original Article: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/04/pnc_smarthome_one_of_northeast.html