MOUNT VERNON — Freshman year of high school is a time of change, adjustment, and new beginnings.
The same holds true for the inaugural 2024 class of tenants moving into The Grad.
Danville grad Ben Durbin was the first to move into an apartment in the former school building at 301 N. Mulberry St.
Previously at Mount Vernon High School, Durbin now teaches at the Knox County Career Center.
“That’s what brought me here,” he explained. “I was in the market to either buy a home or rent to get closer to the career center.”
Now, he said, he’s come full circle from the “new” high school to the former high school. He moved into The Grad on July 1.
As to what attracted him to The Grad, Durbin said, “I thought it would be really cool to live in the old high school. I came in for a visit, and the rest is history.
“Danville High School was built about the same time as this one,” he continued. “The first time through it reminded me of my high school.”
Durbin said that Property Manager Faith Jadlot is big on community.
“Being from Danville, I want community,” he said.
“I didn’t know how cool it was to be able to walk to things,” he added. “Being from the country in Danville, there wasn’t anywhere to walk to.”
Change and adjustment
Durbin had two nights to himself before East Vine Street residents Jeanine and Dave Davenport joined him at The Grad.
“We just have a big house that we raised our children in. It was three-story, and we wanted to downsize,” Jeanine said.
“We needed to have an apartment, and my sister said ‘Why not the old middle school?’ ”
Jeanine moved to Mount Vernon her senior year and graduated from MVHS shortly after the district built the school on Martinsburg Road. She attended Mount Vernon Nazarene College, where she met Dave.
July 12 is the Davenports’ big move-in day at The Grad.
“We just love the location,” Jeanine said. “The way [developer] Joel [Mazza] did everything, we love it. I get excited every time we come in.”
Don Lincicome admits town living will be an adjustment for him. He and his wife recently sold their farm near Malabar Farm in Richland County.
“She went to Wisconsin to be with her grandkids. I still have a contract with Fredericktown schools,” he explained of his reason for moving into The Grad.
Lincicome works with the school’s credit recovery program.
He said when they sold their farm, they had to hustle to find a place to live. A Mount Vernon friend told him about The Grad, and Lincicome moved in on July 3.
“There are quite a few places around town, but nothing compares to this,”’ Lincicome said. “Joel’s doing it right. He’s building it right. Everything is brand new, and all of the appliances are from Herald’s here in town.
“It will take some adjustment,” he said of his new residence. “Right now I’d be doing something on the farm, cleaning stalls or something. But things change.”
New beginnings at The Grad
Taylor Trace is a 2024 graduate of MVHS. She works 12-, 16- or 24-hour shifts as an STNA at Country Club Retirement Center.
“I have been working since my senior year. I took CBI classes in high school,” she said.
The 18-year-old was looking online for an apartment and found The Grad.
“I like how they remodeled it. I like the look of it,” she said. “The price wasn’t bad, and it was here in town.
“I like the layout — the ceilings and the windows,” she added.
Garrett Varanelli and Brianna Wiederhold live in Columbus and will move in at the end of the month.
For Varanelli, an assistant golf pro at Mount Vernon Country Club, moving to Mount Vernon will save time.
“I have been commuting here for two years from Columbus, which takes about an hour each way,” he explained. “So I thought it was about time to move here.”
Wiederhold, originally from San Diego, met Varanelli at The Ohio State University six years ago. She has a bachelor’s degree in social work and hopes to use her passion for helping people in Mount Vernon.
She said the unique concept of converting a former high school into apartments attracted her to The Grad.
“Everybody is friendly. That definitely attracted us here,” she said.
Varanelli said the development concept caught his eye, too.
“That, and how well it was executed, and how nice the apartments turned out to be,” he said.
Property management
Realtor Faith Jadlot manages The Grad complex. She moved to Mount Vernon from Columbus 15 years ago.
She manages the complex through her company, Your HOME at a Time.
Developer Joel Mazza plans to host an open house at The Grad on Aug. 15. The Grad is short for The Graduate Since 1939.
