White Oaks, the colonial revival estate at 407 N. Dayton Lakeview Road in New Carlisle, has changed hands after 124 years with the same family. The 5,050-square-foot home sitting on 1.65 acres was built in 1902 by William N. Scarff, whose descendants held onto the property for more than a century before finally letting it go.
According to the Springfield News-Sun, the house was sold because no one else in the extended Scarff family wanted to live there. The estate features grand columns, a sweeping staircase, ornate original woodwork, hardwood floors and three fireplaces, with grounds that include a private tennis court and manicured lawns. Carrie Scarff, whose father was William Neff Scarff — grandson of the home's original builder — called the original terra cotta roof particularly striking.
A Family Rooted in Horticulture
William Neff Scarff, who took immaculate care of White Oaks for decades, came from a family of horticulturalists and fruit-growers and graduated from The Ohio State University, the News-Sun reports. He was a Marine Corps veteran, and according to his obituary from Richards, Raff & Dunbar Memorial Home, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict and achieved the rank of sergeant before serving with distinction. He married Jane Nelson in 1956, and the couple raised three children: Bill Jr., Peter and Carrie.
Scarff was the fourth of five generations to run Scarff's Nursery, which the obituary says thrived in western Clark County with a national reputation for quality from 1881 to 2020. Per the News-Sun's reporting, the nursery was eventually moved to the White Oaks property and was later sold, continuing to operate at the site today as Ohio Nursery Exchange. Scarff had intended to hand the business down to his sons, William Neff Scarff Jr. and Peter Nelson Scarff, but the News-Sun reports both sons died of cancer in their 50s.
A Legacy That Reached the White House
Beyond the nursery business, Scarff served as president of several national and state nursery associations, including the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association, the American Association of Nurserymen, and the Wholesale Nursery Growers of America, according to his obituary. He also served on boards and charitable organizations throughout Springfield and Clark County.
His reach extended all the way to Washington. Scarff was a member of the White House Grounds committee, responsible for developing and maintaining White House horticulture, the obituary states. Through that work, he met and worked with first ladies from Pat Nixon to Laura Bush, a span of service the News-Sun notes covered decades of White House grounds stewardship. William Neff Scarff died at his New Carlisle home in August 2025 at age 97.
Closing a Chapter for the Family
Carrie Scarff lived in White Oaks from 1962 to 1979 and again for several years after college, according to the News-Sun. She described the sale as emotional, telling the paper that the family's memories and photographs are where the house will live now. Lisa Yates, who represented Carrie Scarff in the transaction, said the sale marked the closing of a special chapter in the family's history.
The sale brings to an end a 124-year chapter for one of Clark County's most storied families, one whose influence stretched from a hometown nursery to the grounds of the White House. The Springfield News-Sun reported on the transaction.
