One of a Kind: The Most Unusual Homes on the Market Right Now

Every so often a buyer sits down across from me and says some version of the same thing: “I don’t want a house that looks like every other house.”

Good news. You’ve picked the right two cities.

Dayton and Cincinnati were rich a hundred years before it was fashionable — cash-register money, aviation money, soap and machine-tool money — and that era left behind housing you simply cannot build today: hand-carved staircases, turrets, hillside Italianates, farmhouses that predate the townships around them. Add a modern wave of award-winning renovations and conversions, and this corridor quietly holds one of the best collections of one-of-a-kind properties in the Midwest.

They’re also, per square foot, often the best value on the market — because unusual homes scare off buyers who don’t have the right guide. More on that below.

Here are six that are on the market right now — real listings, live links, one photo each, and every detail pulled from the MLS this week. Click any photo or address for the full listing. (Featured as of September 11, 2026. Unusual properties either sit for months or vanish in a weekend, with nothing in between — check each link for current status.)

Around Dayton

“Waving Willow” — 1160 Waving Willow Drive, Kettering

$2,200,000 · 7 beds · 6 baths · 6,289 sq ft · built 1923 · 1.8 acres

A named Gilded Age estate overlooking the Dayton Country Club golf course, restored rather than remodeled: a dumbwaiter to the butler’s pantry, an elevator from garage to second floor, custom sinks in every bath, refinished woodwork throughout — and a walk-out lower level with its original mahogany log-cabin room. The outbuildings alone tell you what era this house comes from: an Adirondack house and a parking building the listing simply calls the Casino. Homes like this were built for one family and a century; this one has been on the market nearly a year, waiting for the right one. See the full listing →

Listing courtesy of Felix S McGinnis of Coldwell Banker Heritage.

The 1879 Farmhouse on 17 Acres — 4255 S Iddings Road, West Milton

$699,000 · 3 beds · 2,256 sq ft · built 1879 · 16.88 acres

The homestead dream, twenty-five minutes from Dayton: a wraparound-porch farmhouse that has stood since 1879, on nearly seventeen acres of Miami County ground. Land like this inside commuting distance is what disappears first in every market cycle — and this one hit the market days ago, with an open house Saturday, September 12. If acreage is your version of unusual, do not wait on this category. See the full listing →

Listing courtesy of Sunnie Shafer of Glasshouse Realty Group.

The $139,900 Victorian With a Turret — 61 Drake Avenue, Dayton

$139,900 · 4 beds · 2 baths · two units · built 1900

Proof that one-of-a-kind is not a millionaire’s category: a freshly remodeled 1900 Victorian duplex — with a turret — for $139,900. Both units updated, so the house-hacking math writes itself: live in one, let the other help pay the mortgage, and own the most interesting roofline on the block for the price of a new pickup. Sold as-is, which is exactly the kind of phrase we read carefully together before writing an offer. See the full listing →

Listing courtesy of Jeffrey Jacobs of The Jacobs Group Realty.

Around Cincinnati

The Award Winner — 1826 Elm Street, Over-the-Rhine

$1,750,000 · 2 beds + office · 3,656 sq ft · LEED Platinum · tax abated

What happens when a historic Over-the-Rhine row house meets a striking modern addition and the job is done perfectly: a 2020 Cincinnati Design Award winner, steps from Findlay Market. LEED Platinum with a live tax abatement, an elevator to every level including the wine cellar, two rooftop terraces, a solar array — and the rarest OTR amenity of all, a two-car garage. This is the ceiling of what urban renovation in Cincinnati looks like. See the full listing →

Listing courtesy of Roxanne Qualls of Sibcy Cline, Inc.

The Horse Farm 13 Miles From Downtown — 675 Hobby Horse Lane, Miami Township

$1,975,000 · 5 beds · 5 baths · 6,314 sq ft · est. 1878 · 5.9 acres

A working equestrian estate on a road literally named Hobby Horse Lane: a ranch originally built in 1878 and rebuilt for modern living, plus roughly 8,000 additional square feet of facilities — a six-stall steel barn with wash stall, a sand arena, rotating pastures, a pool, a fishpond, and what the listing describes as a fully occupied, happy chicken coop. The punchline is the geography: 1.5 miles from historic Milford, 13 miles from downtown Cincinnati. A full farm life inside a commute. See the full listing →

Listing courtesy of Sue Miller of Comey & Shepherd.

The Whole Building — 8 W Fourth Street, Downtown Cincinnati

$749,000 · 10,840 sq ft · five stories · built 1850

The wildcard: not a house, but an entire five-story 1850 building near Fountain Square — ornate stone facade, bracketed cornice, arched windows, a central elevator shaft, 2,100-square-foot open floorplates, and a fifth-floor skylight. Full construction plans convey, it sits in a Downtown Opportunity Zone, and the vision writes itself: retail below, residences above. For the price of a four-bedroom in Mason, you can own a piece of the Cincinnati skyline with your name on the deed. See the full listing →

Listing courtesy of William Draznik of Coldwell Banker Realty.

Search everything on the market right now →

Why unusual homes are often the best deal on the market

Here’s a pattern I’ve watched for years: a distinctive property lists, and most buyers scroll past. Not because it isn’t wonderful — because it’s complicated. The appraisal is harder to predict. The insurance quote takes an extra phone call. The financing has a quirk. Most buyers, and frankly many agents, don’t want the homework.

That homework is a discount. Notice that the grand estate above has waited nearly a year for its buyer while ordinary houses in the same school district sell in a weekend. The buyers who do the homework get more house, more land, more character, and more story per dollar than anyone buying in a subdivision — consistently.

The homework, honestly: what I review on a one-of-a-kind purchase

This is where the J.D. earns its keep, because unusual properties come with unusual paperwork:

• Appraisal strategy. When nothing is comparable, appraisals come in unpredictably. We plan for that gap before writing the offer, not after.
• Zoning and legal use. A building being used a certain way is not the same as being zoned that way. On a property like the Fourth Street building, the zoning and the Opportunity Zone rules are the transaction.
• “As-is” language. It doesn’t mean “no inspection” — it means the inspection is for your decision, not for negotiation. Worth understanding precisely before you fall in love with a turret.
• Insurance for the irreplaceable. Slate, plaster, hand millwork — standard policies don’t automatically cover what nobody makes anymore. The right coverage exists; you have to ask for it.
• Wells, septic, acreage, and outbuildings. Seventeen acres and a barn deserve real inspection, not a checkbox — boundaries, systems, and what the county thinks each structure is.
• Abatements and title depth. A tax abatement’s remaining term changes the monthly math, and century-old parcels accumulate easements and surprises. Old properties deserve a careful title read — reading them is, genuinely, my favorite part of the job.

None of this is a warning. It’s a map. Every item on that list has a known answer — and walking buyers through them is exactly what I do.

Want first crack at the next one?

Distinctive properties in this corridor get found. The buyers who win them are the ones who saw the listing on day one. Set up a saved search on my site and the MLS will email you the moment something unusual hits the market — or tell me what you’re hunting for, and I’ll watch for it personally.

More on this: Search all listings · Cincinnati riverfront guide · Moving to Dayton · Contact Gwen

Gwen Nalls is a licensed Ohio Realtor with Irongate Inc. Realtors in Springboro. Featured listings are provided through IDX from the Dayton REALTORS MLS and Cincy MLS, are not listings of Gwen Nalls or Irongate Inc. Realtors unless noted, and change quickly — verify current status, pricing, and details on the linked listing pages. The data does not represent listings of any one agent or broker, but of the broader real estate community. Abatement terms, zoning, and property details must be verified individually. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Equal Housing Opportunity.