Historic Traxler mansion demolished after 2nd fire: ‘danger to life and safety’

The huge 1912-era home in northwest Dayton burned in April just before it was to be auctioned.
The Louis Traxler mansion, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is shown here from above after an early morning fire April 23, just days before it was scheduled to be auctioned. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

The Louis Traxler mansion, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is shown here from above after an early morning fire April 23, just days before it was scheduled to be auctioned. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

DAYTON — The 100-plus year old Traxler mansion, a Dayton historic landmark, has been demolished after a second fire there in four months.

The 42 Yale Ave. structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places was torn down after an unsafe building order was issued Monday, a day following the second blaze, Dayton Fire Department Capt. Brad French said.

The mansion “met the parameters” of city guidelines “related to being a danger to life and safety,” French said.

The order called for it to “be immediately razed,” he added.

The Traxler Mansion at the corner of Broadway and Yale in West Dayton was badly damaged by fire on Sunday, April 23, 2023. JEREMY P. KELLEY / STAFF

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Sunday’s fire was reported just after midnight, and its cause is listed as undetermined “due to the deteriorated condition of the structure rendering it unsafe for DFD personnel to enter for a comprehensive investigation,” French said.

No injuries were reported.

The first fire that occurred April 23 is also listed as undetermined, and the structure was considered a total loss. That blaze, also happening overnight on a Sunday, came weeks before the mansion was set to be auctioned off in a sheriff’s sale, officials said.

No bids were submitted for the auction in May, officials said. But in June, a bid of $41,000 — just above the minimum required offer — was placed on the mansion.

The mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places individually in 1979 and again in 1984 as part of the Dayton View Historic District, according to Preservation Dayton.

The Flemish Chateauesque-style building was built around 1912 for Louis Traxler — president of the Traxler Department Store — and Adeline Traxler, and was reportedly designed by Harvey Hiestand, founder of Miami University’s College of Architecture, according to Preservation Dayton.

The Traxler Mansion, located at 42 Yale Ave. in the Dayton View Historic District, was built around 1910 for Louis Traxler, a Dayton department store owner. The elegant 10,000 square-foot home was built in the French Chateauesque style, the same concept as the storied Biltmore House on the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC. The mansion has been vacant for a decade and Preservation Dayton Inc. would like to save it, and other properties like it, before they are lost forever. LISA POWELL / STAFF

Credit: Lisa Powell

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Credit: Lisa Powell

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