clinton: One of the village’s landmark homes is scheduled to go on the auction block at a sheriff’s sale Friday.The Jonathan Price house at Main and Fulton streets is being offered for bid after the owner defaulted on his loan with Fifth Third Mortgage Co. The house was the longtime home of the late Tressie McIntosh, a local activist, piano teacher and one of Clinton’s best-known residents.The Gothic Revival house was built in 1854 for Price, a coal merchant. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and is known locally as the Gingerbread Home for its ornate trim, imported from Switzerland.McIntosh bought the house with her husband, William, in 1953. William McIntosh died in 1985 and Tressie McIntosh in 2008. Their two sons sold the house in 2009 for $106,000, according to county records. “The house was fantastic growing up in,” one of those sons, Lachlan McIntosh, said. The attic level had three built-in bunk beds and was “the greatest playroom you could imagine.”The eight-room house was unusual for its vertical board and batten siding and its chalet-like appearance, with a steeply sloped roof that extended to the first floor. Lachlan McIntosh said his mother took out a $50,000 loan for restoration work on the house when she was 85 years old, six years before her death. She hired restoration specialist Don Reisig to renovate the kitchen, “and it was fabulous,” McIntosh said.However, the house still needs extensive work, Mayor Phyllis Mayberry said.Lachlan McIntosh and Clinton preservationist Beth Bailey, however, fear a new owner might tear the house down. That fear stems from a visit by a Cleveland-area man who Bailey said talked to at least a couple of villagers and indicated an interest in buying and razing the house.Terry Siegenthaler, Clinton’s street commissioner, was one of the people who talked to the man. He said the prospective buyer didn’t give his name or offer any details during their conversation, which Siegenthaler estimated was three months ago.“He acted like he wanted to put some kind of business on that corner,” Siegenthaler said. Siegenthaler said he pointed out that the property has no municipal water or sewer service, but the man didn’t respond.The owner of a home listed on the National Register of Historic Places is not prohibited from altering or razing it as long as no federal money is attached to the property, according to the National Park Service, which administers the register. A local design review board could restrict that kind of activity, but Clinton has no such board, Mayberry said. Mayberry said she hadn’t heard the rumor that the house might be torn down, but she had heard talk that someone else had expressed interest in buying and restoring it.The house is offered for a minimum bid of $88,000. Its appraised value is $132,000, according to information on the sale published on the Summit County Sheriff’s Office website.The sheriff’s sale starts at 10 a.m. Friday at the County Courthouse, 209 S. High St., Akron. Information is at http://www.co.summit.oh.us/sheriff/sales.htm.Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @MBBreckenridge.