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Stan Hywet Hall
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[photo] Stan Hywet Hall
Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS, OHIO, 77-AKRO, 5-149)

Located in Akron, Ohio, Stan Hywet Hall is one of the finest examples of Tudor Revival architecture in America. This majestic 65-room country manor house sits on 70 acres of designed landscaped gardens and grounds. The estate was named Stan Hywet (an Old English term for “stone hewn”) because of a sandstone quarry on the property. The mansion was constructed between 1912 and 1915 for industrialist and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company co-founder Frank A. Seiberling and his wife Gertrude. Designed to accommodate their active lifestyles and large family, Stan Hywet also met the couple’s need to lavishly entertain business associates, friends and prominent members of the community.

[photo] Detail of leaded glass bay window of solarium, east front of Stan Hywet Hall
Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS, OHIO, 77-AKRO, 150)

Stan Hywet was designed by noted Cleveland architect Charles Schneider. Another Clevelander and one of the fathers of American landscape design, Warren Manning, served as landscape architect for the gardens. Warren Manning’s assistant, Harold Wagner, was chosen by Seiberling to be the first director of the Akron Metropolitan Park System. The landscape features a beautiful birch allee leading to a dramatic overlook providing a broad view of what is now Cuyahoga Valley National Park. A walled English garden designed by America’s first woman landscape architect, Ellen Biddle Shipman, an oriental garden complete with lagoons and the original greenhouse are also found on the estate grounds.

The Manor House is filled with period furnishings and antiques from around the world. The house's 21,000 panes of glass, 23 fireplaces, and hand-carved paneling of oak, sandalwood and black walnut reflect the opulence of the era. Every room tells its own story of the Seiberling lifestyle—from the Billiard Room where F.A. entertained his business associates to the ornate Music Room where famous celebrities like Will Rogers and Shirley Temple entertained the Seiberlings and their friends.

Numerous outbuildings associated with the original manor are intact. The gatehouse, carriage house, and green house are all designed in the same style and display the same attention to detail. The chicken run was detached from the farmer’s cottage, and the cottage was converted into a residence and is now considered outside the grounds of the estate.

Stan Hywet Hall, a National Historic Landmark is located at 714 W. Portage Path in Akron. The house and gardens are open to the public, for a fee. The gardens are open from 9:00am to 6:00pm, and the house is open from 10:00am to 4:30pm daily, April-December. In February and March the house is open Tuesday-Saturday 10:00am to 4:00pm and Sunday from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. For further information call 330-836-5533 or visit the house’s website. Several building on the estate have also been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey. Use the search box to find information associated with Hywet Hall.

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