Sorg Mansion

Another Ohio gem, the Sorg Mansion sold in 2013 for a mere $225k but it really has some remarkable woodwork and stonework.

More photos from Old House Dreams

I'm partial to this style, maybe it is a Cinderella-castle-thing. But right now this is the only castle in my life, see the resemblance? Just kidding. :)

house hunting?

Anyone house hunting in the New Year? Happy 2015, by the way! My husband, who has a knack for coming up with some elaborate ideas, found this Ohio Richardsonian Romanesque looking for a new home.

That's right, the house is ready to move to the lot of your choice. It has some really lovely details inside. The video tour, below, really captures the woodwork and stained glass.

There aren't many great photos but here are a few.

hower house

Another Ohio gem is the Hower House in Akron, Ohio. The Hower House was built in 1871 by John Henry Hower. Mr. Hower was an industrialist who was active in the cereal industries. The family hired local architect Jacob Snyder to build the 28 room Second Empire Italianate house. The house boasts an irregular floor plan that was based on the" “Akron Plan” which was widely used in church constructions as part of the “Sunday School movement” between 1870 and 1917. The house has three floors with a ballroom on the third floor. Unlike many houses of the era, this one was occupied solely by the Hower family for over 100 years. Finally it was deeded to The University of Akron in 1970. In 1973, Hower House was placed on the National Register for Historic Places and opened to the public.

Photos by tbower on Flickr.

stan hywet hall

Cleveland, Ohio is an oft overlooked Midwestern town. Little do people realize that Cleveland during the Victorian period was a booming metropolis that eclipsed many cities we think of as major these days. For example, John D. Rockefeller was raised and schooled in Cleveland where he began his career. The Civil War helped to fuel Cleveland's meteoric rise as an American manufacturing city. By 1870, the city's population had doubled since 1860. Many mansions were built along the city's more prominent streets, such as Prospect Avenue, and those on Millionaire's Row or as it was properly known, Euclid Avenue. Stan Hywet originates in this period and as a country retreat about thirty minutes South of town in the suburb of Akron.

Between 1912 and 1915 F.A. Seiberling and his wife Gertrude built Stan Hywet Hall. F.A. Seiberling was the founder of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, naming it after Charles Goodyear, the inventor of the vulcanization process for rubber. They named the property “Stan Hywet” which is Old English for stone quarry. The manor house was built in the style of Tudor Revival and built by architect Charles S. Schneider for a mere $150,000. During the building process around 3,000 separate blueprints and architectural drawings were drafted to ensure every detail. To facilitate the massive project they even constructed a railroad spur for delivery of supplies and materials to the property.

The gardens are equally spectacular. The Seiberlings hired a Boston landscape architect by the name of Warren H. Manning. They also employed New York interior decorator Hugo F. Huber. For the interior of the house, many furnishings and pieces of art were purchased by Huber in New York which were integrated with some pieces purchased by the Seiberlings in England in 1915.

In 1957, the family opened the doors to the public. Above the door still sits the original inscription "Non Nobis Solum" or "Not for Us Alone" which now seems quite fitting.

Images courtesy of the Stan Hywet Hall site and their Flickr. You can also see more at Seiberling Visual History