While a lot of Batavians seem to look at older homes with a nostalgic glance of longing, not many people have actually had to live in one. As someone whose first home in Batavia was a 1920s American Foursquare that needed a lot of love and was remodeled over the years (shown below), I can confirm that owners of older homes often deal with everything from basement seepage and uninsulated walls to single-pane windows with the insulating strength and soundproofing of plastic wrap and questionable plumbing and wiring.

The charm, quality, history, and features are definitely there, but they’re not necessarily updated for daily modern living. Additionally, what new homeowners often view as a few spot projects to bring a home into the modern age can become a years long journey, which you’re living through while it’s going on.

What are now considered older homes were the primary source of “entry-level” housing in Batavia long before modern subdivisions were built. It was very common for a young family to convert a multi-unit sliced up residential rental into a single-family “forever” home, or to purchase a house from an elderly homeowner who had moved or passed away.

It was also not unusual to find residents who were born, raised, started their own families, and retired all in the same home.

Which brings us to a very underappreciated segment of the local housing market: mid-level developers who renew older housing in Batavia for new residents. Some of these firms, such as Spillane & Sons and BGH Construction (among others), have worked on hundreds of older homes locally over the decades and are arguably the unsung heroes of Batavia’s civic renewal story.

Not everyone has the skills, time, or finances to rehab an older home, and firms like these pull the value out of these properties and return them to active use. Otherwise, many of these homes might have been torn down or left to rot.

We’ll focus on an obvious win, the old Blaine Street School, which now features a new home offered for sale behind it. This is definitely not the only property with a story like this in the older neighborhoods of Batavia, but it is the most well known.

Constructed in 1906 at the corner of Blaine and Jefferson Streets on the west side of Batavia, the Blaine Street School served Batavia’s west-side students for over six decades before closing on June 11, 1969. The four-classroom building was, in the Historical Society’s words, aging and obsolete, leading to its abandonment for educational use.

After closing as a public school, it housed a trade school for house painters. The large classroom walls served as expansive canvases for the students, who eventually painted over the original red brick and whitewashed it. It later became a storage facility for an owner hoping to convert it into a catering business on the bottom with a living space on top, though that project faced neighborhood opposition and was ditched.

As a result, the building sat as a warehouse for decades, attracting graffiti and becoming an eyesore that definitely negatively impacted neighboring property values.

The turnaround started in 2016–2017. The property was listed in April 2016 for $159,900 and sold that June for $150,000. Batavia resident Mike Spillane of Spillane & Sons placed a bid but lost to another local, Chris Winkle, owner of Interior Innovations. Winkle, who possessed a keen design eye but had only rehabbed one property prior, hired Spillane as her contractor.

Spillane was a great fit. A Batavia native and firefighter/paramedic, he had rehabbed more than 50 homes in Batavia alone by 2017 and was an award-winning custom builder. The renovation gutted the interior, exposed the original brick dividing wall between the two units, replaced all windows with 4-by-8-foot custom windows, and added a custom fan-shaped window over the front entrance.

Each unit features an open first-floor layout, a kitchen with quartz countertops and a large island, two bedrooms, two full baths upstairs, and a two-car garage.

The Batavia Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the former school in December 2017, attended by Mayor Jeffery Schielke, as both duplex units hit the market.

Winkle planned to price the units in the mid-$400,000 range.

That valuation held near expectations initially. The north unit at 607 S. Jefferson St. sold on August 28, 2018, for $412,500. It sold again on February 20, 2024, for $513,000 as a 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath, 2,549-square-foot condominium.

The story didn’t end with the duplex.

By December 2017, Winkle and Spillane were already planning an additional single-family home on the west side of the property. That lot is now on the market as 512 Blaine St., situated immediately west of and behind the school building.

It’s listed at $650,000 as a to-be-built, 4-bedroom, 4-bath, 2,902-square-foot, three-story home on a 7,050-square-foot lot. Because construction had not started at the time of listing, a buyer can still customize the interior finishes.

The listing also features a detached three-car garage with a city-approved, unfinished accessory dwelling unit (ADU) above it. Designed to accommodate a future kitchen, bedroom, and living area, it offers space for rental income or multi-generational living, with the option for the builder to complete it as an upgrade.

The school’s story unfolds in two parts: a 1906 school preserved as a duplex in 2017–2018, and, nearly a decade later, a new $650,000 home offered on the adjoining lot.

These developments illustrate the impact of local contractors on Batavia’s ongoing renewal. By adapting historic properties for modern living and infilling empty lots, these unsung community leaders ensure our older neighborhoods continue to thrive.

For more information and photos:

Source / Resource	Link / Info
Daily Herald (Dec. 8, 2017)	Restoration, transformation
Batavia Chamber of Commerce (Dec. 18, 2017)	https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FMzAqwFyx/
607 S. Jefferson St.	Redfin Listing
512 Blaine St.	Keller Williams Listing

By: Jim Fahrenbach

The Transformation of the Blaine Street School: A Story of Decline and Renewal