CondoQuest is a special spring and fall promotion sponsored by the BIA

58 Central Ohio Condominium communities
Showcased by the Building Industry Association
Visitors tour newly constructed condo communities

Condos are for everyone the CondoQuest slogan

First time buyers, empty nesters, busy professionals
No need for ladders, lawn mowers or snow shovels
Lock your front door and leave for a couple of months no need to worry about outside maintenance

Many floor plans to choose from

Ranches and town homes
First-floor owner’s suites
Twin singles and detached patio homes
Prices start at $99,000
Some selling for more than $1,000,000

Great amenities

Great room open-living layouts less formal living spaces
Many communities offer walking trails, bike paths, fitness centers, swimming pools and tennis courts

Spring and fall CondoQuest

Sponsored by the BIA for the past 6 years
Missed the spring promotion, there will be a good selection again in the fall

Karen’s Condo-Quest

Cute town home and 1st floor owner’s suite
The Pros and Cons of Condos

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Johnnycake Corners Spring Carnival was a huge success

I recently received a thank you letter from the JCES PTO sponsorship committee for my American Girl Doll contribution to the carnival. The spring carnival was held on April 5, 2008; this fund raiser was organized by the PTO.

Fun, Food and Games

At this wonderful family event children purchased tickets to play games and enjoy their favorite treats such as cotton candy and hot dogs. Many beautiful baskets were donated for the silent auction.

A Great Tradition Has Begun

The PTO extended a huge thank you to all those who gave of their time and talents which made the carnival such a success. Generous contributions provided a nice $11,746 profit for the PTO. The proceeds from this first carnival will go to enriching the Johnnycake Corners Elementary School environment as well as providing additional resources for the classrooms.

So Many Friends and Families

Such a nice opportunity to support the Olentangy School district along with enjoying a day with friends from the Harbor Pointe, Meadows at Cheshire and Summerwood communities. Many children from these communities attend the Johnnycake Corners Elementary School a new school which just opened in September 2007.

Wondering about the name Johnnycake Corners

The school was named after a one-room schoolhouse that was once located on Johnnycake Road which is now known as the 3B’s and K Road the main access road to the school.

Click on this link to learn more about the Olentangy School district.

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Welcome to the Harbor Pointe Community - Galena Ohio 43021 located about 20 miles from downtown Columbus, Ohio and 6 miles from the Polaris shopping district Lewis Center, Ohio.  A splendid entry with a beautifully landscaped pond welcomes residents to their community located in southern Delaware County, Berlin Township. Harbor Pointe is such a gorgeous community, surrounded by Alum Creek parklands, ravines and walking trails.

Residents reside in elegant custom homes built by CV Perry Homes, Duffy Homes and Showcase Homes. Ranch, two story and 5-multi level homes are popular home styles. In this community the first homes were constructed in 2002 and still are being built today. It’s a mid sized community; when construction is completed there will be about 200 homes.  The price of homes range from $375,900 to $650,000. No homes are smaller than 2,800 square feet with the largest ones being over 4,500 square feet.  Homes are constructed with many quality materials such as stone, brick, stucco and Hardy Plank exteriors; knee walls are also popular.  Many beautiful interior amenities are found in the homes located in Harbor Pointe such as dramatic 2 story entries and great rooms, huge gourmet kitchens with granite counter tops, custom cabinetry and double ovens, extra wide crown moldings, ceramic tile and hardwood floors, master suites with deluxe master baths with whirlpool tubs and huge showers with steam and multiple shower heads, Jack-n- Jill baths, family rooms with wet-bars and fantastic finished basements. 

Harbor Pointe is not just a community of homes built of sticks and mortar there is a real community presence of friendship; a community were residents gather together not only socially but also provide a helping hand to neighbors in need.  Many volunteers put in countless hours throughout the year to make the Harbor Pointe community a fun place to live. The Easter egg hunt and community garage sale kicks off the spring events. A huge summer block party includes a potluck picnic, games for the kids and a live band, a wonderful community event that provides fun for kids of all ages. The two spectacular fall events are the costume party, haunted trail and cookout. The Harbor Pointe children enjoyed decorating gingerbread houses at the holiday season. There is also a progressive holiday dinner party. The word is out the Harbor Pointe community is a wonderful place to live.

The Harbor Pointe children attend Olentangy Schools. The elementary school age children attend a brand new school Johnnycake Corners opened in the fall of 2007.

If you love to boat, swim and hike the Alum Creek State Park is just across from the Harbor Pointe community entrance.

If you currently live in Central Ohio or are moving into town and are looking to purchase a home near Alum Creek State Park you should drive thru the Harbor Pointe Community.  Such a friendly community with a rural feel but not too far from shopping and freeways.

Please enjoy the slide show of the Harbor Pointe Community

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Galena Ohio 43021 is a quiet little village nestled between the Big and Little Walnut Creeks with close proximity to Hoover and Alum Creek Reservoirs. Galena was established in 1809 under the name of Zoar. The creeks created a water power source for a sawmill. When the residents applied for a Post Office in 1834 the name of Zoar was disqualified due to the existence of another community with that name. There is no history as to how the town’s name of Galena was derived. The village green is still visible today with a few vintage buildings from the past. Most of the old buildings were destroyed by fire or demolished to make way for Hoover Reservoir which was constructed in 1950

One sunny spring day I took a walk around the village green. I stopped in to see what was cooking at Jule’s Java & Grill. Such a cute place, they were busy, the bacon and eggs sure did smell good. Jule’s is open Monday thru Friday 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Friday nights 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Now the coolest building that I walked thru was the post office. The interior of the post office was a walk back in time, such beautiful woodwork and all those old fashion post boxes. The postal clerk gave me permission to take the photo that is visible in this post.
A World War II Tribute is the focal point of the village green. I walked over the bridge to view the Big and Little Walnut Creeks; the morning was just beautiful, the sun was shimmering on the creeks and there were a few fellows in the water fishing.

The Galena zip code 43021 includes home sites in both rural and newly developed communities with a short commute to either the Hoover or Alum Creek Reservoirs and Parklands. Community residents that love to boat, fish and hike don’t have far to go to enjoy those outdoor activities.

Listed below are most of the communities located within the Galena zip code 43021. The homes and condos in these communities are within either the Olentangy or Big Walnut schools district boundary area. In future posts I will highlight the communities listed below. The map and slideshow will give you a snapshot of the communities located within the Galena Ohio zip code.  Arbors at Cheshire, Cheshire Woods, Crystal Valley, Galena Pointe, Retreat at Grand Oaks, Harbor Pointe, Heathermere, Hickory Woods, Hidden Creek Estates, Hoover Woods, Keller Pines Estates, Lake of the Woods, Mansard Estates, Meadows at Cheshire, Retreat at Grand Oak, Sage Creek, Sheffield Park, Sherman Lakes, Stone’s Throw, Summerwood, Walnut Creek, Walnut Grove, Walnut Woods, Vinmar Farms, Windale Farms, Woodhaven Estates.

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I was fortunate to attend the Home and Garden show on the morning of the last day of the show which was Sunday March 2, 2008. As I approached the ticket counter I was pleasantly greeted by a wonderfully fragrant aroma of spring flowers, ah such a treat.                                                                           
 Anyone who gets depressed by dreary winter weather, the Home and Garden show is a must see to lift your spirits. It’s been a challenging winter season in Central Ohio…snow that turns into rain then back into snow; everyone has been home bound. The day I attended the show was actually a beautiful day; a spring like day-60 degrees-how fitting. The Home and Garden show is always at the Ohio Expo Center which is also known as the Ohio State Fairgrounds. The show started on February 23 and ended on March 2, 2008; it’s quite a large show which encompasses two buildings.  Everyone’s tour begins in the first building which enabled spectators to ramble thru spectacular storybook gardens including large evergreens, flowering trees, footbridges, babbling brooks and oodles of beautiful flowers. 
This years gardens were designed around storybook themes: Including Aladdin, Noah’s Ark, Brock the Balloonist, The Chronicles of Narnia, Swiss Family Robinson, Jungle Book, Hansel and Gretel, Jack in the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Wizard of Oz, Three Little Pigs and Winnie the Pooh. The Storybook gardens were designed and created by members of the Columbus Landscape Association; 6 months of planning went into these gardens. All the gardens were beautiful and some made me stay a tad longer than others. There was a huge15’ tall giraffe topiary at the Noah’s Ark garden display.

 An outdoor room was incorporated into the Three Little Pigs storybook garden; there was a pizza oven and a concrete counter top, a small sink and a barbecue mounted in the kitchen area of the storybook garden display. The Winnie Pooh storybook garden had a projector aimed into the water area of the Pooh garden. The flowering trees at the Brock the Balloonist storybook garden were really dramatic; the Queen of Hearts ruled in the Alice in Wonderland storybook garden with its breathtaking sea of red tulips. The Wizard of Oz garden evoked my favorite childhood memories.

As I finished the garden tour I browsed thru many outdoor improvements and remodeling displays; I came across these interesting discoveries. A plasma TV made specially to be installed outdoors, a huge hot tub that was 15’ long 8’ wide and 4 ft deep; now that’s a very large hot tub. Beautiful fire pits with seating areas give elegance to outdoor living spaces which are becoming so popular in bringing the indoors to the outside. Being a person who loves being outdoors I spent so much time wandering thru the gardens that I had to rush thru the second building at the show; it contained many new innovations that you could use in all your remodeling projects. A water faucet especially intrigued me with a light at the tip of the faucet. How pretty the water looked as it flowed out of the faucet. Then there was a display of how an ordinary small basement window could be reconstructed into an egress window, great for those that want to add a bedroom in the finished basement. Oh my, what they have done to windows.  Anderson Windows has a new Low-E4 window that cleans itself.  Another window company had a display of fiberglass windows, a great insulator which will not rot like wood windows. There were many displays of kitchen cabinets, ceramic tiles, tankless hot water heaters, gutters and so much more that it’s hard to mention it all.

I also learned that when remodeling you should make sure the remodeling professional is a member of NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry). NARI ensures that its members are full-time professionals. To be a member the association puts the professional thru a extensive screening process and there are strict membership requirements including a code of ethics. For help locating a NARI professional in Central Ohio you can visit www.trustnari.org or call 614-895-3080.

There is something for everyone at the show, a special day for seniors and kids; Dr E. Gordon Gee, president of The Ohio State University read from storybooks to the kids on their special day; there were demonstrations from celebrity chefs, gardeners and decorators. There was even a first time homebuyer seminar conducted by Tom Walker of the Ohio Finance Agency. I have just scratched the surface; you need to go see, feel and have fun. If you live in Central Ohio or are from out of town, mark your calendar to see the 2009 Central Ohio Home and Garden Show…you will not be disappointed.

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