Ohio home up for sale features jail cells that allegedly housed gangster John Dillinger

A home listed last week in the northwest Ohio town of Celina gives new meaning to the phrase "jail house."

The property, featured on the Zillow Gone Wild listing of unusual homes, includes two jail cells, complete with beds, that allegedly once housed gangster John Dillinger. 

"I guess you could use them for your dogs, your kids — use your imagination," joked Ryan Stackhouse, the Superior Plus Realtors agent who is listing the property.

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That's not the only thing unusual about the home, which includes four bedrooms, five bathrooms and 6,467 square feet. Among other features: an indoor pool, a sauna, a grotto-style hot tub (not currently in service) and a pub. 

Jail cells may have housed 1930s Midwest bank robber John Dillinger

Stackhouse said the house, listed for $275,000, was built in 1972 by a Celina eye doctor with a reputation for partying.

"Rumor has it he started the construction of this property to be used as a private office," Stackhouse said. "I've heard this doctor had a wild lifestyle and decided the property would be better served as a party pad. ... He decided to set the property up as a great entertainment space."

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The doctor was also a history buff who reportedly bought the jail cells that housed Dillinger, who led a spree of Midwest bank robberies in 1933 and 1934. One of those robberies, in Blufton, Ohio, led to his incarceration in the Allen County Jail in Lima, from which he escaped in October 1933.

One of the cells from the former jail is part of a Dillinger exhibit at the Allen County Museum, but a representative there said he didn't know if others still existed. 

The Celina home's current owners use the cells to house their dogs, Stackhouse said. 

Celina home second Ohio house to be featured on Zillow Gone Wild

Stackhouse said his "phone went crazy" when Zillow Gone Wild posted his listing last week.

The home is the second Ohio home featured in the last week on the Zillow site, following a 28-bathroom Dublin Road home listed for $8 million.

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Stackhouse showed the home over the weekend, resulting in several offers that the owner is now reviewing. He said he expects to have the home in contract this week.

"I'm anxious for my phone to stop ringing," he said. "It was bizarre."

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker