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We use real estate as a professional engine for community storytelling and cultural legacy. We document places in ways that help people understand, preserve, and share the stories of the homes, buildings, and neighborhoods that matter to them.

FRAMEWORK

Documentation as Instruction

Framework approaches photography, videography, and storytelling as instructional media.

Our work is designed not only to record places, but to help people see, understand, and steward them more thoughtfully.

Through documentation, we create:

A deeper understanding of homes and neighborhoods
Tools for people to record their own stories and legacies
Meaningful engagement with the built environment
Public storytelling that strengthens civic identity

CincyLegacy.org, an educational & cultural initiative

CincyLegacy.org is an upcoming initiative that will teach Cincinnati residents how to document the homes, buildings, and places that matter in their lives.

The platform will invite the community to:

Nominate meaningful places
Learn how to document their own legacies
Participate in storytelling and preservation
Engage with neighbors, professionals, and cultural partners

As this initiative grows, it also creates natural connections to trusted real estate professionals who understand the value of place.

What We Do

Community programs & outreach

Framework creates community programs and outreach initiatives that help people actively participate in documenting and preserving the places they care about.

These programs are shaped by principles of instructional design and digital accessibility, making them thoughtful, inclusive, and easy for people to engage with.

The work we do in documenting homes, neighborhoods, and personal stories places us in conversation with people who care deeply about where they live.

Because homes, buildings, and meaningful places are also properties that are bought, sold, restored, inherited, and cared for over time, questions about ownership and real estate often arise as part of those same conversations.

When they do, we introduce people to trusted real estate professionals who share that same respect for place and community.

Homes, stories, and stewardship

How we serve cultural, civic, and industry partners

Framework collaborates with:

Arts and cultural organizations
Preservation groups
Community leaders
Realtors, home builders, architects, and industry professionals

to document, celebrate, and steward Cincinnati’s built environment together.

I practice real estate as part of a larger commitment to the places and communities I serve.

Being a Realtor gives me a deep, daily understanding of how homes, buildings, and neighborhoods are cared for, changed, preserved, and passed from one steward to the next. It connects me with the people who shape Cincinnati’s built environment and gives me access to knowledge and perspectives that extend far beyond traditional research.

It also gives me a professional understanding of what makes places valuable — the conditions, decisions, and histories that influence how a property is experienced, maintained, and regarded over time.

I am a certified Instructional Designer and a certified Digital Accessibility Specialist. My expertise is in creating instructional media, and I use photography and videography as documentarian tools that help people understand, preserve, and share the stories of the places that matter to them.

I bring this combined expertise into the work consistently as a way of contributing to the stewardship and celebration of the city’s built environment.

When real estate needs arise for people who care deeply about the places they live, I introduce them to trusted professionals who share that same respect for place at Close to Home Consultants.

Our mission is about more than property marketing;
It’s about legacy. Everything we do today, in and for these places, becomes tomorrow’s history.

We're here to help you pass it on.

A Note from Leslie Foster, Founder

Are You Undertaking a Legacy Project? Explore Historic Preservation Resources!

Preservation Loan Fund for Endangered Properties Made possible by the 1772 Foundation & Cincinnati Development Fund, The Preservation Loan Fund for Endangered Buildings is a historic property redevelopment program, commonly known as a revolving fund. It is an active real estate based program for protecting endangered properties using techniques such as: options, purchase/resale, easements and tax credits. Its primarily offers loans to end users that are supported and enhanced by escrow deposits which the Cincinnati Preservation makes to the Cincinnati Development Fund (CDF), a nonprofit lending institution that fills a gap not covered by traditional lenders. If you have a project that might be a candidate, reach out to Beth Johnson at beth.johnson@cincinnatipreservation.org.

National Trust for Historic Preservation Grants An umbrella for numerous grant sources, the NTFHP grants are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by supporting ongoing preservation work and by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for preservation projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector. A small grant at the right time can go a long way and is often the catalyst that inspires a community to take action on a preservation project. Grants generally start at $2,500 and range up to $5,000, while there are opportunities for larger awards as well.

The Linda and Jerry Bruckheimer Preservation Fund for KY This grant fund supports the restoration, rehabilitation, stabilization, and preservation of designated historic sites and structures, including bricks-and-mortar construction and work to preserve archaeological sites. These bricks and mortar grants range from $2,500 to $10,000, and approximately $13,000 in funds will be available for grants each year. Applicants must be an IRS designated 501(c)(3) public charity, church or governmental agency. Individuals and private building owners do not qualify for these grants.

Cincy Map Collection At over 200 historical maps of the City of Cincinnati, and growing, this curator has the largest private collection in existence. Dustin Marks is a Cincinnati-based commercial real estate professional whose passion for collecting antiquarian maps began after he and his wife purchased a 100+ year old craftsman-style home in Cincinnati. As a way to make this unique collection more accessible to fellow Cincinnatians, Dustin launched an online gallery that visually narrates The Queen City’s story through historical maps & prints.

Are you a homeowner, preservationist, artist, or industry professional who cares about the story of a place in Cincinnati? Would you like to be part of a community effort to document and celebrate the places that matter?

Are you an arts or cultural organization interested in partnership or fiscal sponsorship?
Please reach out.