The priciest home for sale in Ohio’s largest city boasts nearly 13,000 square feet and a long history connected to a prominent Columbus family behind some household retail names.
It also happens to be around the block from the Ohio Governor’s Mansion, the official residence of the state leader since 1957.
The home at 291 N. Drexel Ave. in Bexley, listed for $4.95 million, has been in the Schottenstein family since 1964, according to public records. The Schottensteins have held stakes in brands such as Value City Furniture, American Eagle Outfitters, M/I Homes and DSW, among others.
Public records show the home has been owned by Jonathan Schottenstein since 2018, the fourth-generation president of Value City Furniture’s parent company, American Signature.
His father, Jay Schottenstein, is the third-generation chair of the furniture company, and is chairman of American Eagle Outfitters, and the family’s holding company, SB360 Capital Partners. Jay Schottenstein has owned a home in Bexley, Ohio, less than a mile from the listed home, for nearly 40 years, according to public records.
The family’s retail success began in 1917 when Jay’s great-grandfather, Ephraim Schottenstein, opened Value City in Columbus. Ephraim’s nephews, Irving and Melvin Schottenstein, founded major homebuilder M/I Homes in 1976.
Melvin first owned the home in 1964, then it was passed through two additional Schottenstein family ownerships — including one short stint of ownership by a nonfamily member — before the current owner.
But it’s not the family name that’s propping up the listing price.
Price comes down to location, size
Listing agent Michael Carruthers of Coldwell Banker Realty said location and size are the main factors for the home’s price tag. The home has 12,757 square feet with eight bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms.
Built in 1927, the home did not originally have that much living space. It’s undergone several remodels and additions over the years, with the latest concluding in 2020.
The slate roof alone cost $500,000, according to Carruthers, and the home is located less than 1 mile from the 41-acre Jeffrey Park. It's also located within the city's top school districts, the agent said.
It sits on 0.87 acres with a four-car attached garage and circular driveway. Inside, the kitchen has double islands while the media room features a projector screen neighboring a built-in bar.
The median sale price of a home in the Bexley neighborhood is $615,000, according to Homes.com data, with an average price per square foot of $228. This home is $388 per square foot.
Near this home, two sales over $2 million have occurred this year. A 6,938-square-foot home closed for $2.36 million in April. The same month, a $2.1 million home built in 1926 with 5,417 square feet sold.
The priciest Columbus home sale in the past year was $3.9 million for an 11,132-square-foot home with six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, according to Homes.com.
Carruthers noted there's no softening in the Columbus market, unlike headlines coming out of Florida and California.
"So far in Columbus, Ohio, and specifically in Bexley, we have a very limited market and things are still going with multiple offers and shorter timeframes," he said.
