Some repeat decorative elements tie things together, with Tudor Rose, Scottish thistle and fleur-de-lis patterns recurring throughout. The range of rooms is a joy to pass through, with surprises around every corner. I like half-timbering, but too much can leave you half-bored. The interior, the work of New York designer Hugo Huber, is exquisite in its sheer variety: the aim was to replicate the multiplicity of styles that occurred naturally over centuries of remodeling in English manor houses. The exterior is a very skillful variation on Tudor themes, consisting mainly of brick with stone bays and accents, half-timbered gables and varied crenellation, and all sorts of delightful chimneys. They visited over 20 estates, settling on three as specific inspirations: Compton Wynyates in Warwickshire, Ockwells Manor in Berkshire, and Haddon Hall in Derbyshire (which you’ve seen as Prince Humperdinck's castle in The Princess Bride, also in both the Zeffirelli and the Fukunga Jane Eyre films, and more).Ĭharles Sumner Schneider, a Beaux-Arts-trained Cleveland architect, built a number of halls for Case Western Reserve and numerous homes across the Shaker Heights-Cleveland Heights manor belt but nothing so large as Stan Hywet, an exceptional work. The Seiberlings purchased a large property north of town and set out on a grand tour in England to figure out just what they wanted to build there. There was never a Stan Hywet living there, the title is an old English word for stone quarries, some of which dot the property (and one of which was repurposed into a charming Japanese garden). (Frank) Seiberling, the co-founder of Goodyear Rubber company, and his wife Gertrude Penfield Seiberling. It is a relic of the golden age of American estate construction, completed in 1916 for F.A. ![]() One you can visit right now is in a more unexpected place: Akron, Ohio, where the 65-room (18 bedroom) Tudor Revival Stan Hywet Hall remains in superb condition and has operated as a house museum since the mid-1950s. A number are just memories, or now owned by universities or country clubs, as even Vanderbilt and Hearst or Dupont or Rockefeller heirs often balk at the expense of keeping up 100-room homes. ![]() The remainder are largely where you might expect, on the Gold Coast of Long Island, around the Philadelphia Main Line, on assorted shores and promontories friendly to Gatsby types. You know a few of the largest homes in the United States already: the Biltmore, Hearst Castle, the Breakers, and the other celebrated dwellings.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |