The Columns
Built in 1874, 109 W Elder St. was originally a toy and knick knack shop built by entrepreneur Moses Goldsmith. Moses, an eclectic man who lived a lavish lifestyle, loved to entertain and even invited the entire city of Cincinnati to his 30th birthday.
Over the years, 109 W Elder St. housed a variety of commercial businesses such as a grocery store, men’s clothing shop and BBQ restaurant. In the fall of 2020, after almost 20 years of vacancy, the building was transformed into an event space by Miriam and Jake Hodesh.
Miriam and Jake are committed to keeping the history of 109 W Elder St. alive and telling its story. “If only the walls could talk,” says Miriam. She tells us that she would hope Moses and his family would be happy with the new life her family has breathed into the space.
“The beauty of so many buildings in Findlay Market is the history. We should be asking ourselves, ‘Who else walked through these doors and how are our lives similar and different from our older Cincinnati sisters and brothers?’ I love that The Columns has had a previous life, and that we get to be part of this next chapter in the history of Findlay Market,” says Miriam.
Miriam was drawn to how vibrant and diverse Findlay Market is and loved chatting with merchants to ask what the community might need. She realized that building an event space for people to meet, mingle and even get married was on that wish list. She made it happen by turning 109 W Elder into The Columns.
“Clients are looking to be together again, and we have loved hosting weddings, rehearsal dinners, private dinners, corporate off-sites, meetings and pop up take-overs” says Miriam.
Miriam and her team began renovating the space during the height of the pandemic. “Everyone was like, ‘Who renovates an event space during a pandemic?’ But we really believed in the business and knew that if we created a cool, sophisticated and modern space that wasn’t like anything else in Cincinnati, people would be interested and supportive once they felt safe to celebrate…..And it is happening!”
With the help of her talented team which included her husband, Jake, contractor Kevin Helms and his nephew, Cam Muff, they tackled the giant project together. Miriam shares that there were definitely a few hiccups along the way that made many days feel a bit like 1 step forward… and 2 steps back, but Miriam tells us that you have to just keep moving forward.
In addition to adding a second story to the building, Miriam worked with local artists Pam Kravetz, Carla Lamb, among others to design and paint the 7 bathrooms in the building. With a modern and contemporary space, Miriam wanted to do something fun and extraordinary in the bathrooms to make them colorful and funky, and with the creative mind of Pam Kravetz, Miriam’s vision came to life.
Published: April 2022