Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

Back in October, I was up in Akron, Ohio to housesit. While there, I visited nearby Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, the beautiful home of a local rubber magnate. If you like the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, this would be right up your alley. (Or Allée, as you’ll see.)

History

You might think that Stan Hywet was built by a guy named Stan, but you’d be wrong. The home was built in 1912-1915 by F.A. Seiberling and his wife Gertrude. Seiberling was the co-founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and had the whopping $150,000 (over $4 million today) to build the ornate 65-room home. As for the name? “Stan Hywet” is Old English for “stone quarry” as there was one on site and to honor his family heritage.

F.A. and Gertrude lived in Stan Hywet for 40 years with their 6 children and hosted large family gatherings whenever possible. It sounds like the Seiberling clan was a close and happy one, even after economic misfortunes didn’t allow them to keep the house after F.A.’s death in 1955.

Almost immediately, the house and grounds were turned into a non-profit historic museum. This means that almost all of the furnishings in the house are original to the owners, which is on the rare side for these types of home tours. It really makes the house feel alive, like you could come upon some Seiberlings at any moment. (And at one point, you actually could. Some of the Seiberling grandchildren volunteered as docents and led house tours.)

The Manor House

After you buy your ticket, you start your self-guided tour at the front door of the Tudor-style mansion.

The 64,500-square foot house is mostly on two sprawling floors. There’s a central hallway, a Solarium, formal and informal dining (and lots of clever storage.)

A monumental room anchoring one end of the hall is a Music Room/Ballroom/Theater space, complete with an organ and a small stage. Numerous instruments can be seen and were all played by the talented Gertrude Seiberling. An accoustically-perfect round room is immediately adjacent and where Gertrude apparently greeted her guests.

Through this room and to the back of the house, there is a stone-paved enclosed West Porch, complete with a wall fountain.

Further along, there is a fabulous library, complete with a secret passage! The Biltmore Estate may have more of a massive, Beauty-and-the-Beast style library, but I’d like something just like this. A fireplace, back-to-back roll-arm sofas, and a hefty desk by a bay window.

Anchoring the back of the main floor is a vaulted, two-story Great Hall. The upstairs hallway creates a balcony on one side while a “nanny window” from the master suite can be used to keep an eye on children (or guests) below.

Heading upstairs

While all the public rooms are downstairs, the private bedrooms are all upstairs, flanking either side of the Great Hall.

The Master Bedroom is on a large scale, with that window looking down to the hall below.

Most of the Seiberling children were grown, or almost so, by the time F.A. build this house. But there are opposite spaces for the daughters of the family and for the sons.

The girls’ rooms exhibit some of their clothes, and there are some authentic items even left in their closets. One has a grand vaulted ceiling.

The boys’ rooms are more manor-house rustic. Note the bed in the farther room. Since there’s no air-conditioning, sometimes they’d sleep in these corner rooms with big windows, like a sleeping porch. Papa F.A. had one on his side of the house, too.

Recreation rooms & Study

On your way between floors, there is an indoor pool and a billiard room. Adjacent to the billiard room is F.A.’s official study. The study and the games room are the darkest English manor house style in the house. I can imagine a lot of cigar-smoking going on in here.

The Gardens of Stan Hywet

As beautiful as the manor house is, the estate’s gardens are vast and rewarding. While they don’t do guided house tours during Covid, they do have guided garden tours. It’s free with admission but you have to choose a tour time in advance, in case they fill up. On my tour, I was the only person. (At least that’s how it worked on my visit.)

The Great Meadow lies directly in front of the house. I think I remember something about horseback riding or golf. Or maybe both.

The Plane Tree Allée is the site of many weddings on the estate, with its wide grass lawn and tall alley (or Allée) of tall trees. Edging the base of the tree lane are azaleas, so it’s extra beautiful for spring weddings.

I didn’t get good pictures of this (probably because it didn’t look too nice mid-October) but there is a Dell – a little wooded hollow – back behind the house. The Seiberling’s daughter Virginia chose this site for her own wedding. A stone passage leads from the end of the Dell, under the Plane Tree Allée, and into the Great Meadow.

The English Garden

Continuing counter-clockwise around the Manor House, there is a fabulous walled garden behind the Music Room end of the house. Barely seen in a little hollow and walled all the way around, this garden was a favorite of Gertrude Seiberling. After she had it redone, that is.

Warren Manning designed the rest of Stan Hywet’s gardens but Gertrude had the English Garden redone by Ellen Biddle Shipman, one of the few female landscape architects of her time. It remains one of the few fully intact Shipman gardens.

And it is a haven. Walled off from the rest of the estate, it feels like it’s own little world. The Secret Garden book & movie-loving child in me just loves this!

Directly behind the house is the West Overlook, a terrace with a reflecting pool and an overlook to the rear vista over the Cuyahoga Valley.

The Japanese Garden

Below the level of the terraced back lawn is the Japanese Garden, with streams, bridges, lanterns, and even a miniature Mount Fuji.

Moving around to the north end of the house is a covered walkway that leads directly from the main hallway to the Birch Tree Allée. I bring it up mainly because it looks like something from the Harry Potter movies! Below is a service court where delivery trucks can access the kitchens and storage.

The Birch Tree Allée

By far the most famous element of Stan Hywet’s gardens – the one that made it onto a postage stamp – is the Birch Tree Allée. This 152-foot long path proceeds directly from the main hall in the house and the covered walkway.

The Birch Tree Allée leads straight from the house to the Lagoon Vista overlook and two stone “Tea Houses.” It’s another very popular place for weddings.

The Lagoon

Winding around the back half of the whole property, the Lagoon fills in what used to be the stone quarry of Stan Hywet. Waterways flow under bridges and through trees with large lawns and walking paths on either side.

It’s filled in more now but the Seiberling family used to use the Lagoon for swimming and boating. Bathhouses are built into the side of the rock wall under the Tea Houses.

There is also a rocky stage for performances held at Stan Hywet throughout the year.

A Grape Arbor borders the large flower garden on the north, leading from the Birch Tree Allée Vista to the Conservatory.

The Great Garden

Next to the Birch Tree Allée is a large flower and vegetable garden, including a corner dedicated to roses. All the flowers grown here are used in fresh and dried floral arrangements in the Manor House. Even in October, I was surprised to find so much here in bloom!

In with the real flowers are sculpture flowers, art installations that change every year (or every few.)

Back towards the house, the Breakfast Room Garden reflects the blues, yellows, and whites of the room itself. When seen from inside the room, the view complements the interior colors and extends the space. The fountain in this garden was recently restored after a couple of visiting roughhousing kids managed to knock it over.

Circling the whole property is the Pleasure Drive, skirting the forest and the gorge behind the house. You can’t drive on it today, so it’s more of a walking path.

The Corbin Conservatory

The Conservatory was closed during my visit, and will remain so while Covid is still a threat. Likewise, a super fun-looking playground next to it is closed for the time being.

There is also a Gate Lodge that is open for touring but I didn’t seem to make it. Either it was closed, or it was closed by the time I was leaving. The Gate Lodge is considered the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous and now houses an exhibit about its formation.

The Carriage House

The Carriage House is where you park, buy your tickets and start your journey. There’s a small room with a wall display of a timeline and a video about the house. If you have a timed ticket and it’s not time yet, you would wait here.

In the photo above, there used to be room for 10 cars, a mechanic’s bay, car wash, and fuel pump in the right wing. The chauffeur/mechanic lived in the apartment above. Horses were kept in the left side with groomsmen quartered in the dormitory above.

Shopping and Dining

While the car side houses the ticket center and video display room now, the horse side houses a gift shop and cafe, where you can eat in the old horses’ stalls. On my visit, there was also a food truck serving hot dogs and molasses cookies, which I can attest were both very good.

Visiting Stan Hywet

If you want to visit Stan Hywet, the estate is open from April-December. Visiting hours are 10-4, Tuesday-Sunday (closed Mondays.)

The cost to tour the Manor House, Gardens, and the Gate Lodge is $15, and $6 for kids 6-17. If you’d just like to tour the grounds (including the Gate Lodge) it’s $12/$5. For the Gate Lodge alone, it’s $6. Students, Military, First Responders, and AAA members all qualify for discounts – see this page.

During non-pandemic times, they offer several guided tours – a guided house tour ($19/$8), a nooks-and-crannies tour ($28/$10), and a Grand Estate Tour that includes a guided tour of the house and gardens ($24/$10). All tours include admission to the full estate.

During my visit, also saw a signboard for special events on the estate. I vaguely remember some sort of “Murder In The Mansion” evening event. They also host car shows, Easter egg hunts, Christmas tours, and more.

To take a Virtual Tour from home, visit this page! But if you do, please consider donating to the Fund Recovery Campaign – it sounds like they’ve been hit hard by the pandemic.

The O’Neil House Bed & Breakfast

If you like Stan Hywet as much as I did, you might consider a stay at The O’Neil House Bed and Breakfast. It was suggested to me by my garden tour guide and I had a great time! It’s the closest thing to staying in Stan Hywet (or Downton Abbey) itself. I cover my stay in this post.