1800s horse stable, restored into loft home, now a trendy York space

York Daily Record

Developer Duncan Schmidt rehabbed a lofted home at 15 S. Newberry St. in 1983 for his own use long before it became trendy to restore buildings in York.

A railing runs from the second floor to the top of the open staircase on the third floor at 15 S. Newberry St. in York.

But the former livery stable, built in the late 1800s, still shines with the best of the new downtown projects.

At the time of the rehab, downtown York was on hard times.

Retail and residents had fled to the suburbs, and the race riots were a little more than a decade in the past. Yet the young developer, Schmidt, found promise in the empty store fronts, decaying wood and broken bricks.

Following the rehab, he purchased an empty building in the first block of West Market Street in 1984 for $25,000 from the redevelopment authority and transformed it into a nightclub called Zakie's.

At its peak, Zakie's was bringing in $500,000 in sales a year, according to Schmidt in a York Daily Record story from December 1992.

Farther down West Market Street at the intersection of Penn Street, Schmidt transformed the rotting Colonial Hotel/Dutch Kitchen building into low-income apartments for single tenants.

He was given a "white rose" in a York Daily Record editorial in June 1993 for a "much-needed project...but also for compassionate way... Mr. Schmidt has allowed 15 tenants to remain in the building" during reconstruction.

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Schmidt, who now lives in Mill Valley, California, managing corporate real estate, talked this week about developing downtown York in the 1980s. "I never viewed developing in York a risk. I believe in the urban environment, and it always has potential," he said.

As for Schmidt's first rehab project in York, his former home at 15 S. Newberry St., he said, "I have great memories of that house and enjoying the space".

Schmidt recalls walking for breakfast at the former Majestic Restaurant on West Market Street, being able to walk to every project he started in downtown York and a man who sold oyster sandwiches from his garage.

The loft home

As for the modest brick-and-wood structure on South Newberry that Schmidt turned into his home, the three-story structure was built in 1889. It began as a livery stable and then was used as a laundry during the Great Depression, according to its current owner, David Holtzapple.

Schmidt said that it was also used as a car repair shop at one time. The garage still has the repair pit in the floor.

David Holtzapple stands in the main living area on the second floor of the York loft home. He has owned it since 2000. At the time of purchase, he liked the way Zakie's nightclub was designed by Duncan Schmidt, who also had redone the loft home in the 1980s.

Now, the open floor space on the main living area on the second floor is divided by a staircase that runs up through the house.

The third floor has two bedrooms, a master bathroom, and a rooftop deck. The first floor is a garage and office space that can be separated from the main house with its own outside entrance.

A large wooden wheel and shaft sits on the open beams above the main living space with windows allowing in light from the third floor to filter into the main living area.

Holtzapple bought the 2,574-square-foot home in 2000, saying that he knew Schmidt had designed Zakie's, liked that, and knew that he had a hand in rehabbing the home.

Holtzapple recently sold the house for $115,000. "I wouldn't be leaving now, but there are three houses in York that I have always wanted, and one came on the market," he said.

Holtzapple isn't going far, as he moves to the Springdale neighborhood in the southern end of York.

The building at 15 S. Newberry St. in York was built as a livery stable in 1889, according to owner David Holtzapple. It was also a laundry during the depression. It took its current form in 1983 when Duncan Schmidt turned it into a contemporary loft home.

Below: a look at the former Zakie's building, that also housed Sonic Garage, Evolution Night Club and Marcello's Pizza, in 2015 before Royal Square Development and Construction began a renovation of the building into commercial space.

Below: Another look at the Zakie's building in 2016 during construction