Staff photo / Bob Coupland Denny and Carol Pleiss stand in front of their new home off Golf Drive in Warren. The home, built in 1941, once belonged to the Halsey Taylor family.

WARREN — Former Niles residents Denny and Carol Pleiss said they have always loved historic homes, and when the former Halsey Taylor family home in Warren was for sale, they knew they had to bid on it.

The Pleisses were successful and moved into the nearly 6,000-square-foot, two-story home off Golf Drive this month.

“There is a lot of history here,” Denny said.

While they will do work on the house, they plan to keep the historical elements.

“When we walked through each room, it felt like we were going back in time,” Carol said.

Halsey W. Taylor drinking fountains still can be found all over the nation, and were sold all over the world.

Carol, who is retired from the city of Niles, said her daughter, Natalie, spotted a drinking fountain in a basement room when they were looking at the home.

“I remember one of his drinking fountains at work at the Niles city building,” Carol said.

Their son, David, is a plumber, and will get the fountain working.

MUCH DESIRED

Denny, who is semi-retired, said he was working on a nearby property doing underground utility work when he went to get items and passed the house — and saw the “for sale” sign.

They learned of the sale on a Saturday, placed a bid and bought it by Sunday.

“There were many people who wanted it. They had 11 bids and offers,” he said.

Real Living Volpini Realty Group lists the house sold for $330,000. The home was listed at $299,000.

“When he came home, he told me about the house being for sale, so we looked it up. That is a really nice house. The house was kept beautifully. It looks like it was put in yesterday,” Carol said.

The house was constructed in December 1941 and each of the bedrooms on the upstairs floor has its own bathroom. It also has a large attic and basement.

Carol said there’s a half bathroom on the main floor and two half bathrooms in the basement.

Denny said a former photography darkroom in the basement now is his tool room.

EXCITED OWNERS

He said it was exciting for them to learn the history of the Taylor family.

“We didn’t know all the history until the bidding process was over. It is a magnificent home that has such character and history to it. We will try to maintain the history as much as we can,” Denny said.

“The house, when I first saw it, was so beautiful. You can’t miss it. I think for me, when I first walked through it, is like a timepiece,” Carol said.

Carol and Denny said it was amazing the attention the house received, including on a website called This Old House. There are 700 comments made about the structure, including some from people who grew up in the house.

When living in Niles, the couple always had loved the historic Harry Stevens home, which burned down in December.

“We drove by that house a million times. My aunt and uncle used to live nextdoor. I loved that house,” Carol said, learning it had been sold late last year before the fire.

HISTORIC CHARACTER

Kim Griffin, a Realtor with Real Living Volpini Realty, who sold the Taylor house, said she always has been fascinated by the character of historic homes and their design.

“I always like when the people who buy these historic homes keep the character of the house. This is a beautiful home in a beautiful area,” she said.

The most recent residents were the Kerr family, who were local industrialists.

The family left the Pleisses much of the furniture and items in the home.

Jim Kerr, who had lived in the house since the 1960s and now lives out of state, said his family kept the original design. He mentioned that drinking fountain in the basement.

“It was a wonderful house to grow up in. To learn of its history always fascinated me,” he said.

Kerr said with the sale, his family, which has been a part of Trumbull County for 200 years, no longer will be here.

His parents, John “Jack” Edward Kerr and Carol Kerr, bought the house in 1965 when Jim was 2.

His family goes back generations, including a great-great-great-grandfather who had a large farm off Salt Springs Road in Weathersfield. The Kerr Cemetery off Salt Springs Road is on the site of a sawmill the Kerr family once owned.

DRINKING FOUNTAINS

Meghan Reed, executive director of Trumbull County Historical Society, said she does, on occasion, get questions about Halsey Taylor.

“What often happens is when we mention Halsey Taylor, someone has a story to tell of being in another state or on a trip or even in some other part of the world and seeing a Halsey Taylor drinking fountain,” Reed said. “They are always happy and excited to be able to share that story. The drinking fountain is the biggest connection to Halsey Taylor. People always have a story to share of where they have seen one.”

She said people know Taylor was a local businessman but as soon as his name is mentioned, the drinking fountain is what they remember first.

Reed said people also say the water from the Halsey Taylor fountains is always so cold.

TAYLOR HISTORY

According to Trumbull County Historical Society records, in 1896 Taylor’s father died from typhoid fever. The illness is principally spread through contaminated drinking water, which had a lasting effect on Taylor.

Taylor worked at the Packard Electric Co. for 16 years and was the shop superintendent. He noticed Packard workers drinking water out of the same cup and thought it unsanitary. Taylor was determined to develop a drinking fountain that would not contribute to the spread of illnesses.

He came up with the idea of a drinking fountain that he called the Puritan Fountain — sometimes called the Double Bubbler. Working with Newton A. Wolcott of Packard Electric, the two formed the Halsey W. Taylor Co. in 1913.

The Ohio History Connection reported that Taylor invented the nonsquirting drinking fountain and manufactured them in his hometown of Warren. This Double Bubbler dispensed two streams of water in an arc. The arc of water allowed drinkers to be several inches away from the faucet, reducing the spread of illnesses.

In November 1919, Taylor acquired Wolcott’s share of the business to become sole owner of the company.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Taylor’s company manufactured more than 80 percent of the drinking fountains in the United States. The company once made 30 to 40 different styles of drinking fountains and water coolers. Many Halsey W. Taylor drinking fountains still exist worldwide with the original name.

Taylor died in 1964 at age 87. The family continued to run the business until 1969, then sold to King-Seely, a subsidiary of Thermos Corp. The water coolers now are marketed under the name Elkay, according to the historical society.

bcoupland@tribtoday.com