Iolan Jonelle Leslie has a lot of memories of the house at 223 N. Jefferson Ave.
She never owned it, but she lived in the upstairs apartment for 32 years. Now, as the house nears demolition after more than a century, she’s saying a bittersweet goodbye and reflecting on the time she spent there.
Leslie moved into the upstairs apartment in October of 1986, when the two-story house was owned by George and Melva Lee. George’s dad had previously owned the house and built a sheet metal shop on the property, near the alley. He told Leslie his understanding was the house had been converted into apartments sometime in the 1940s or so, creating an upstairs unit and a separate downstairs apartment.
The upstairs apartment had its own entrance on the south side. Leslie remembers when she first moved in. At the time, she had a parakeet and a finch. Something scared them that first night, and when she woke up the next morning, she discovered a piece of paneling had been moved to another room.
“I had it in my head the house was haunted,” Leslie recalled.
She was working at Allen Community College at the time and invited a friend over to conduct a séance in hopes of reaching a peaceful agreement with whatever spirit might be inhabiting the house. Perhaps it worked.
“After that, I never had trouble,” she said.
Eventually, the house was sold to George and Melva’s son, Vernon Lee. He agreed to let Leslie help pick tenants for the downstairs apartment until she moved. He later sold the house.
Leslie researched the history of the home and found it was built sometime between 1901 and 1903, when it was owned by George Ferguson.
The house once was included in a trolley tour of some of the area’s oldest homes.
The condition of the house has deteriorated with significant foundation problems, which led the current owners to decide to demolish it. The Iola Fire Department recently used it for training purposes, removing windows and tearing into walls.
