My name is Ann Lingenfelter Bitner.  I am the fourth

generation owner of this building and the business it holds.  After becoming a grandmother I began, like a lot of us, to think seriously about the future.  I figured I only have a limited amount of time left so if I was going to do something big, now was the time.  The apartment above my business had been unused for years and one day a friend mentioned that she was looking for a place to stay when she travelled back home to Loudonville.  Little did she know the job she started for me.  That short conversation took place in the summer of 2012 and the wheels in my brain started turning.  Red Window Townhouse is the end product.

A note about the Red Window

    Several years ago, I visited a home that had red glass installed in one of the windows.  The experience of looking out at the world through that red glass was something that I never forgot.  Last fall as I was cleaning up in the basement below the business I discovered a window frame that just seemed to be waiting for me.  I have no idea where that frame came from, but it has a new purpose today.  Enjoy the Red Window.

A little history about this building

    This building was built in 1913 by Henry Pippitt, His daughter, Jennie Pippitt Rollins, was married to my great, great, uncle James Rollins, who was a brother to Aaron, father to my grandmother, Hazel Rollins Lingenfelter.  Hazel worked for James and Jennie and married my Grandfather Harry Lingenfelter, who also worked for them as a watchmaker and engraver.  Harry purchased the building and business in 1919 and shortly after, he and Hazel moved into this apartment where both my aunt Jean and my father Jacque were born.

    My father and mother Ruth purchased the business and building in 1945 when Dad got home from the Navy.  Dad had grown up in the business and had gone to watchmaker’s school in Elgin Illinois before enlisting in the Navy.  He was a very talented man and eventually became a Certified Master Watchmaker.  Mom helped run the business and was beloved by all our customers.

    Even though both of my brothers also worked in the store, it fell on my shoulders to be next in line.  It took me until 1988 to purchase the business, even though I had worked here since I was twelve years old.  I did take a few years off to graduate from Cleveland State University, work in a jewelry business in Cleveland and meet and marry my husband Jay.  It did not take much to convince him to move to Loudonville in 1978 where we started our family, Jay began a teaching career, and I came back to work.  We are blessed with two sons, Michael and David, their wives, Marcia and Crystal, and five lovely grand daughters: Emlyn, Ruth, Charlotte, Brynn and Xanthe.

    Even though I never knew my Grandpa Harry, my Grandma Hazel lived to her 99th year.  Mom passed away in 2004, followed by Dad in 2007.  I would like to believe that they would all appreciate what I have done with this building.  I began with a general restoration of the store showroom in 2011, including new paint, floor restorations, removal of paint from the beautiful quarter sawn oak wall cases and reinstallation of the original light fixtures.  In 2012, I did the same thing to the back room.  I began the restoration of the apartment in the winter of 2013 and just finished in June.  My hope is that you will enjoy this building as much as I do.