Village Housing: 70 N. Pleasant Street

Date

ca. 1894-2006 (private); 2006-present (college)

Location

70 North Pleasant Street

Architects/Collaborators

Builder unknown

Style

Vernacular

History

This vernacular house was previously known as the Preston or Luikart House, after two of its owner/residents. By 1927, the Preston family had moved into the house and remained here through 1945. Ray Lambert Preston (b. 1886, Pittsfield, Ohio; d. 1945, Oberlin) had been a teamster and drayman and worked at the Carver-Kennedy Lumber Company before moving into this house. While living here, he worked in trucking and owned Preston and Dawley Trucking Company, which were known around town for their red paint and large size. His partner was Wilton Dawley. During World War II, Ray was appointed to serve on the gasoline rationing board for the Oberlin vicinity. He was also a member of the Oberlin Volunteer Fire Department for 25 years and a member of both the Oberlin Blue Lodge No. 219 and the Oberlin Masonic F and A.M. No. 380. Ray married Fay L. (nee Daugherty; b. 1888, Ohio, d. 1972, IL). She was trained by the American Red Cross during World War II and later went on to become a nurse. The couple had a son, Dayton Lambert (b. 1911, d. 1975, IL), who attended Oberlin High School.

Following the Prestons, the Luikarts occupied the house from 1948 through 1973. Louis Henry Luikart (b. 1913, Russia Twp; d. 2003, Elyria) attended Oberlin High School and the Oberlin Business School. He served as a corporal during World War II in the US Army Air Force and flew over Italy and North Africa where he earned two Bronze Stars and the Good Conduct Ribbon. He married Dorothy (nee Becker) in 1942 and returned home in 1945 and shortly thereafter they occupied this house. While in Oberlin, Louis worked as a mechanic at Dietz in Elyria and as anelectrician in Elyria at Bendix-Westinghouse. Louis and Dorothy had a son, Larry, and two twin daughters who passed away when they were young. Since 2006, the College has owned this house and offered it to students in its Village Housing program.

Source

Ohio Historic Inventory by Liz Schultz, Ohio State Historic Preservation Office, November 20, 2009. Accessed from the Oberlin Heritage Center website, June 26, 2015.