Life on the lake

This story was featured in the July 2022 edition of Sandusky Living magazine. If you're interested in purchasing a copy, call the Register at 419-502-2130 while supplies last. Curran Street is unrecognizable compared to 40 years ago — changed for the better. You can thank street resident John Arnold for that. John purchased his home on Curran Street in 1983 and started renovating the condemned property. "I just went by this house one day and it had a condemned sign on it, so I found out who owned it and just decided to go for it," John said. "When we first walked into this house, my mother-in-law, looked at me and said, 'You really want my daughter to move into this house and neighborhood?' And I looked at her I said, 'Just give me time, Mary.' Give me time, and time is all it took. Time and a lot of hard work." Trees and brush were all along the water, making the water impossible to see. He said it took time to dig out the property and create the waterside view on display there today. Transient rentals, decades before Airbnb While going on vacations, John considered that there weren't any home rentals in Sandusky for tourists, something he was about to change. In 1989, John and his wife, Ann Arnold, decided to open vacation rentals and built Dockside Accommodations. "We're big fans of the Florida Keys and I brought a lot of that stuff and incorporated it into our property and on the street and everyone just seemed to jump on board," John said. "We started buying up some of the properties to renovate them and as the tourists came, they saw the difference I was making and started buying up the property." John said many of the houses on the street are now owned by previous customers of Dockside Accommodations. "It's just what makes this neighborhood click. I think I can speak for everyone that we wouldn't trade this life for anything. It's a way of life here," John said. "You have to start from the ground and work up. We worked and constantly made it better, but it's paid off for everybody. I wouldn't trade this street for anything in the world, I swear." Dockside Accommodations has three rental units. The Arnolds expanded their home, adding vacation rentals and building a self-serve tiki bar and decks with kitchen areas and grills overlooking the water and Cedar Point. There is also individual boat dockage. John grew up down the road on Cove Street with his family, and the Arnolds raised their children on Curran Street. John said his sons recently took over one of his rental properties and are happy they're jumping into the business. He said the city of Sandusky has approached him before, asking him to go into other neighborhoods in the city to do the same, but he's refused. He "can't be a foreigner" somewhere else, John said. A hard start John's property wasn't the only condemned property when the Arnolds first moved in the 80s. "There were a lot of absentee landlords, metro housing was putting in a lot of band people," John said. "There was a lot of criminal activity here, then. We had to battle drug dealers, and one by one, we got them gone." John said he would ask those who owned homes on the street to get on board or sell their property because he knew people wanting to buy property on Curran Street. "We finally have a safe neighborhood. We've had our ups and downs with the street, but the end result is what you see," John said. "There's not another neighborhood in the city like this. We took the street back and saved the neighborhood. Once we got rid of the drug dealers and the bad houses, people started realizing the potential." John was in the rental business before buying his home, managing 700 apartments, but wanted to attract more tourists. He also was one of the first people to get a golf cart in Sandusky, he said. "Over the years, I've probably impacted eight or nine homes," he said. "There's never a for sale sign on this street, let's put it that way." In 2015, the couple celebrated 25 years in business. "There's probably between three and four million dollars that been put into this neighborhood over the years," John said. "We've kept a lot of local contractors busy down here. All of these people have spent tons of money and it's been in the right direction, improving houses and the neighborhood." Rentals bring residents "We've been at this for over 30 years now and I have friends all over the country," John said. "Most of these people who live here now were customers and watched me develop the street. They decided to buy in, they saw my vision and we've spent millions down here." John said while there have been difficulties over the years, whether that's the neighborhood's dangerous past or unexpected issues, rebuilding Curran Street and creating Dockside Accommodations has been fun, and he wouldn't change it. "It's been so much fun," Ann said. "We're surrounded by our good friends and it's just fun to be here. And we made it that way, all of us." About nine couples have moved to the Sandusky area due to the Arnolds. "We have so much fun here. There are about 87 people who live on this street, but a lot of them are our weekend warriors," John said. "There are about 15 who stay all year round." While Dockside Accommodations were one of the first and only vacation rentals in Sandusky before, the business has grown. According to Jill Bauer, public relations manager of Shores & Islands Ohio, there are 390 vacation rentals registered in Erie County as of April 2022 and 250 active vacation rentals on the auditor's list in Ottawa County. "That's really how this street was really built, through John's vacation rentals and then the people coming to stay here," Ken Leonard said. He and his wife, Tracy Leonard have a home on Curran Street. "Everyone just falls in love with the area. There are the islands, Cedar Point and downtown," Leonard said. "With all of those things, you just fall in love with it all." John's influence has touched each block of Curran Street, now a colorful, beachy road, with directional posts pointing out countries, landmarks and cities. All of the directional signs have been built by John and donated to businesses or homes for free. "I started by building the tiki bar for Dockside and it just kind of took off. Almost every house has its own now," John said. "We have great neighborhood parties. We've had people come and ask if they were real bars." John and Ann's son, Michael Arnold, growing up on Curran Street was not quite a normal upbringing. "There were always tourists around and new people every week. I just moved back a couple of years ago. I bought a house around the corner and my brother and I bought the house next door from my dad," Michael said. "Eventually, he's going to retire as much as he can and we'll take it over." While Curran Street has been brought back to life, Sandusky's downtown has gotten bigger and brighter. "We support downtown all the time. I try not to send anyone past Perkins Avenue to recommendations," John said. "I've done some crazy things for this street, but it's been worth it. I had water behind my dad's house growing up, so I knew what water property was all about. I knew what I could do here."