Owners of local historical home share what it’s been like caring for it

So on Christmas morning, their three young children, Gina, Melissa and Danny, cuddled in blankets and sleeping bags near the Christmas tree and took turns opening presents. The children peeked their heads and arms out just long enough to unwrap a present, tell their parents, “I like it,” then return to the warmth.

Then the Sacks received their first heating bill in their 74-year-old home. It was for $700.

“Oh my God,” Dan remembers saying. “What did we buy?”

But once the storm windows were replaced, the monthly heating bill was cut in half.

They live in one of the most historic homes in the area. It has had three addresses on Coles Road, Central Avenue and now Sycamore Terrace.

It was built in 1929 by Martin Bauer, who constructed numerous houses on Central Avenue and marked them by placing a small engraved plaque with his name and construction date inside a guest closet door.

The all-stone home, one of only two in Middletown, was first purchased by Carey and Stella Shera, who moved in before the infamous 1929 stock market crash. The home also has been owned by Bob Gruver, Bert McClure and the Sacks, who all served as Armco executives.

The Sacks are the most tenured owners of the home.

“We’re caregivers of history,” Fran said.

The home was on the market for three years in the early 1980s. In November 1983, the Sacks traded their home on Pennswood Drive and $40,00 to Realtors Courtney Duff and R.D. Wienke, owners of the property.

The home stayed on the market so long for several reasons, the Sacks said. The housing market was down, the home required numerous upgrades and many thought the price was too expensive for all the work it needed.

Before that, the original property sat on 9.5 acres. The Sacks believe that around 1950 the owners donated four acres where Wilson School was built and Wilson Park was established.

There was also a clay tennis court and a small lake along Central Avenue at the bottom of the property that was a popular place for children to skate in the winter. A house was built on the tennis court, and the lake was drained in the 1960s.

The house was built with a stage in the basement that was used by neighborhood kids to perform plays. There are large doors for furniture removal, two side doors with peep holes and two lower-level doors.

The Sack children also performed plays there, and Danny, probably more than once, used one of the doors as a late-night escape. Fran remembers one night after getting home from a holiday party, she made sure all the doors were locked when she heard a knock at the back.

It was Danny, who was out of breath after toilet papering a neighbor’s house with two buddies.

Then, a few minutes later, there was another knock at the front door. Middletown police officers had Danny’s two accomplices.

For many years, the Sack children — Gina, Isroff, 55, Melissa Smith, 52, and Danny, 48, who all live out of state — returned to Middletown around Christmas and slept in their childhood bedrooms with their children.

“Very blessed,” Fran said.

The Sacks have shared their home with about anyone who wanted a party. They have hosted state Rep. Scott Nein’s Pig Roast Fundraisers, Armco Communication Christmas parties, two outdoor weddings, their 25th wedding vows renewal Mass in 1991 performed by Father Dennis Jaspers and their 50th anniversary celebration attended by more than 200 family and friends.

In 2016, one of their gardens was featured on the Middletown Arts Center Garden Tour, and they opened the first floor for those who wanted a brief tour.

Those who now tour the home with see a new feature: handrails have been added.

Dan and Fran Sack, both 77, said they and their guests appreciate the added safety.

“That comes with getting older,” Dan said.

He didn’t wait for his wife to answer.

He wants to be alive to celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary.