Mystery Painting: I.T. Frary

[Mill by a River]. An oil painting (1899). Used courtesy of a private Cleveland area collector.

Ages ago, when I began assembling material for the exhibition I curated for the Cleveland Artists Foundation on the life and work of I.T. Frary, I asked if you, my readers, might have some of his paintings in your collections.

The exhibition, Designing History: I.T. Frary; Interior Design and the Beginnings of Historic Preservation in Ohio traced Frary's career, from his beginnings in art school, through the work that he did as an artist and interior designer, to his landmark book, Early Homes of Ohio, published in 1936, which remains the best general work on historic architecture in this state.
Smith House, Adams Mills, Ohio A watercolor painting (1904). From the collection of Jim Oswald.

A couple great watercolor paintings had remained in the Frary family.

H.A. Smith House, Adams Mills A watercolor painting (1905). From the collection of Jim Oswald.

They depict the landscape in Adams Mills, in Muskingum County, Ohio, where Frary's wife's family lived.
Zoar A watercolor painting (1898). Collection of the Cleveland Artists Foundation..

Another watercolor, the only one in private hands outside the Frary family, depicts a scene in Zoar, Ohio. It is now in the collections of the Cleveland Artists Foundation. Frary made the painting while a student of F.C. Gottwald.

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Still, I knew that there had to be more of his paintings out there. Frary had exhibited dozens, at the least - and they were good paintings. They couldn't have all disappeared, could they?
[Mill by a River]. An oil painting (1899). Used courtesy of a private Cleveland area collector.

Then, a few months ago, I received and email from a private collector, who had purchased this oil painting at an estate sale years ago. It's the first oil painting that I've found by Frary - and I can't figure out where the scene is! We know that I.T. Frary painted in the vicinity of Zoar, Chagrin Falls, and Adams Mills, Ohio. Could it be one of these, or possibly something in the vicinity of Cleveland? What do you see?


[Mill by a River]. An oil painting (1899). Used courtesy of a private Cleveland area collector.

Here are a couple details, with the hope that they may help in the identification of the piece.

The Vanishing Forties - No Longer Quite So Vanished

Rudolph Stanley-Brown (American, 1889-1944). The Vanishing Forties, Cleveland, Ohio. Etching. The Cleveland Museum of Art. In memory of Rudolph Stanley-Brown 1950.185

In my quest for compelling historic imagery, I come across plenty of things that I can't use, simply because I can't figure out where the scene portrayed was physically located. This print, The Vanishing Forties, Cleveland, Ohio, by Rudolph Stanley-Brown, is one such case - one that's been bugging me since I first saw it, more than a year ago.

It's likely that Stanley-Brown made the print in 1924 or 1925 - he entered The Thirties and The Fifties into the Cleveland Museum of Art's May Show that year (May Show Database).


Photograph by Carl Waite for the Historic American Buildings Survey, November 2, 1936. Detail of the original, used courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The style of the house is very similar to two Cleveland structures, both now lost - the H. Mould house, at 2637 Cedar Avenue, and the Leonard Case homestead - documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), one of the many make-work projects that came under the auspices of WPA in the 1930s.


Photograph by Carl Waite for the Historic American Buildings Survey, November 2, 1936. Detail of the original, used courtesy of the Library of Congress.

I covered the Leonard Case house, which was built c. 1820, in detail, back in 2009. The H. Mould house is said to have been built later - 1860 - but the large central chimney makes me suspect an earlier date. I would guess, based on the title of the work, The Vanishing Forties, that the house was built in the 1840s - or at least that's when the artist thought it was built.


Detail, T.P. May residence. Rendered in 1935 by Isadore Wasserstrom for the Historic American Buildings Survey.

Yesterday, I was browsing through the HABS drawings for this region, when I came across the T.P. May residence, at 1458 East 12th Street, Cleveland, Ohio.


Detail, T.P. May residence. Rendered in 1935 by Isadore Wasserstrom for the Historic American Buildings Survey.

It looked similar to the house in Stanley-Brown's print - but only similar - there were several significant differences. The bases of the columns were different, as were the windows. The roof lacks the vertical lines, too, but that could be the artist's choice.

I was going to dismiss the possibility of the HABS drawings being of the same structure that Stanley-Brown depicted, but, out of stubbornness - I really wanted it to be the same one - I persisted, trying to identify details that were the same.

The tops of the columns and the trim above them are the same. So are the proportions of the porch. The same can be said for the spacing of the windows and the pitch of the roof. Both have brick foundations, at a time when stone would have been more common.


Detail, T.P. May residence. Rendered in 1935 by Isadore Wasserstrom for the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The front steps cemented my opinion that The Vanishing Forties does, in fact, depict this house. This detail, of the floorplan, illustrates them clearly. It can also be seen, in less detail, in the renderings above. Note that the steps aren't entirely in front of the porch, as would usually be the case, but partially set into it. Perhaps this was done when the sidewalk was widened, or perhaps the house was originally this way, allowing the builder to make the house a little bigger than he might have otherwise. Whatever the cause, it's an uncommon detail, one that confirms the identity.

I've seen other houses where the HABS architects reconstructed the original appearance of structures that have been changed considerably. One example is the H. M. Gillette residence, near Wellington, Ohio. In that case, a porch had been added around most of the house, concealing much of the detail. They were able to make measured drawings to show it as it was, and used an earlier photograph, by I.T. Frary, to aid in the illustration.

The HABS documentation includes some background information about the house:

The East Twelfth Street House was built previous to 1865 on the easterly end of T.P. May's sub-division. T.P. May was an influential early settler of Cleveland and a member of the first Board of Health. His sub-division extended from Erie Street (E. 9th) to Muirson Street (E. 12th) along the northerly side of what in 1865 became the extension of Superior Street...

The house while still having evidence of good design and sturdy construction has been used in recent years as a ware house and consequently many of the better details have been destroyed.

T.P. May residence. Rendered in 1935 by Isadore Wasserstrom for the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The four pages of renderings provide an incredible amount of detail - the hardware is included, as is the exact dimensions of the seam on the metal roof. With the information present here, one could build a house virtually identical to the original. The biggest obstacle would likely replicating the method of construction - modern tools simply don't leave the same tool marks as tools used in the 1840s.

One final note: the building in the background is the Hotel Statler, at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 12th Street.

A Church and the Landscape - The Congregational Church at Claridon

Photograph by I.T. Frary. 1922. Scanned from a photocopy of an original in the I.T. Frary Audiovisual Collection at the Ohio Historical Society.

On Wednesday, I illustrated how the changes in landscape around St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Church affected the perception of the structure, from something monumental to something more ordinary. Today, I hope to illustrate how more subtle changes affect the perception of a historic structure.

The Congregational Church at Claridon was built in 1831, at the intersection of Mayfield Road (US 322) and Claridon-Troy Road, in Geauga County. (If you took Mayfield Road east from Interstate 271 and continued east for 16 miles, you'd end up there.)

The church is an especially good example of the type built in this area during the time specified.

As you look at these photographs, try to notice how the church has been changed over time.


Photograph by I.T. Frary, in the collections of the Ohio Historical Society. From the Cleveland Artists Foundation exhibition Designing History: I.T. Frary; Interior Design and the Beginnings of Historic Preservation in Ohio.

This photograph, circa 1929, was used by Frary in his landmark work, Early Homes of Ohio, which remains the best work on Ohio's architectural heritage as a whole.



Finally, we have a photograph that I took, back in March of this year.

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The most obvious change is that the windows are no longer arched, but now have rounded tops. But there's another significant change. Look at the stairs leading to the church.

In 1922, there are just two front stairs. By circa 1929, there are three. And today, there are four.

Note how much the church feels like it's part of the landscape in 1922. Something's lost in the addition of stairs - to my eyes, it feels more separated from the landscape. Perhaps that was the intention.

As in Tremont, these changes, large and small, make a difference.

Mystery Photos: A Follow Up

Last week, I asked about the location of four buildings photographed by I.T. Frary.


Photograph by I.T. Frary. 1926. Courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society.

One, I noted, was located east of Shalersville. On Father's Day, I went with my wife, son, and daughter on a drive, exploring some of the areas that Frary photographed. I succeeded in locating this house.



Here's the house as it stands today, at 6423 State Route 303, Drakesburg, Ohio. The basic form remains the same, but many of the details have been lost.

The wood siding has been covered with cement shingles. The wood shingles of the roof have been replaced with asphalt ones. The chimney, on the left, is gone, and the porch, to the right, has been enclosed. The fretwork - the wood covering the three small attic windows, the detail for which Frary chose to photograph the house - has been removed.

The front door remains unchanged, along with most of its trim - note that the columns flanking the door are mirrored at the edge of the porch. It was this detail that allowed me to be certain I had found the house in question.

The big surprise of the drive was at how few of the houses that Frary documented remained. Of those that remain, on many of them, the detail he chose to document has been lost. This is often the case even on houses that appear to have been restored and well cared for.

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The exhibition Designing History: I.T. Frary; Interior Design and the Beginnings of Historic Preservation in Ohio runs through July 16. I encourage you to take a look. The Cleveland Artists Foundation is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue, in Lakewood, Ohio.

Mystery Photos - Now With More Detail!

Photos of fretwork at Shalersville, Circleville, Bellevue, and Wooster. By I.T. Frary, from Early Homes of Ohio.

As part of the Cleveland Artists Foundation's exhibit, Designing History: I.T. Frary; Interior Design and the Beginnings of Historic Preservation in Ohio I'm taking an in-depth look at Frary's published works. Chief among these is Early Homes of Ohio, which is now 75 years old. This landmark title was the first to deal with the architectural heritage of this state, and remains an unequaled standard in the field.

I've been trying to locate all of the structures pictured in Early Homes of Ohio, so that I might document their present condition, and so that others might view them in person. I've located most of them, but some still present difficulties - mostly because, in Early Homes they were only shown in detail. I've scanned photocopies of the images from the collections of the Ohio Historical Society, some of which are presented here.

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Courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society.

This house, located "East of Shalersville, Ohio", was photographed by I.T. Frary in 1926. Given the angle of the shadows, and that Frary tended to stay on the main roads, it's probable that the house is on the north side of the road.


Courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society.

Frary photographed House, Circleville, Ohio, in 1924. It appears to be the sort of structure that would be in the center of the city.


Courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society.

This brick structure, in Wooster, Ohio, appears to have been built as a commercial structure - thus the two front doors, for better traffic flow. At the time Frary photographed it, in 1924, it housed a gas station, and Church of Christ, Scientist. I've been unable to determine location for said church that corresponds with the evidence suggested here - the building should be close to the street.


Courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society.

This House, West of Bellvue, Ohio was photographed by I.T. Frary in either 1923 or 1924. This is a scan of an actual photograph, so there's plenty of resolution there, if you need to look at it in more detail. While the house appears square, I suspect, based on the roof line, that it might be L-shaped.

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This is just the first group - I'll be sharing more in the coming days. If you know where these houses are, or were, either by address or approximate location, please either comment here or send an email to clevelandareahistory@gmail.com. Thanks!

Interior Design and the Illuminating Company: A Group of Paintings by I.T. Frary

Living Room in the Style of the Modern English School, a painting by I.T. Frary, reproduced in The Illuminator, June, 1909. Collection of Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.

I'm curating an exhibit for the Cleveland Artists Foundation, Designing History: I.T. Frary; Interior Design and the Beginnings of Historic Preservation in Ohio. Frary is best known as the author of Early Homes of Ohio, the first book to address this state's architectural heritage. His first career was as a designer of furniture and interiors for the Brooks Household Art Co. Brooks became one half of the famed Rorimer-Brooks.

As I mentioned before, one of the challenges is finding strong imagery other than his photographs - especially color imagery. (I'm still looking, by the way, if the signature seems familar.)


[Living Room] a painting by I.T. Frary, reproduced in The Illuminator, June, 1909. Collection of Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.

I was pleasantly surprised to find, in the I.T. Frary Papers at the Western Reserve Historical Society, a copy of The Illuminator, dated June, 1909. The magazine was published for the employees of the illuminating company, and used several of Frary's paintings for the Brooks Household Art Co. to illustrate a piece on various interior design ideas.


[Colonial Style Hallway] and [Hallway], paintings by I.T. Frary, reproduced in The Illuminator, June, 1909. Collection of Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.

This pair illustrate two very different ways that one might treat an entrance hall. The Colonial Style one, on the left, is far more formal, while the one on the right is more casual.


Living Room in the Style of the Greek Revival, a painting by I.T. Frary, reproduced in The Illuminator, June, 1909. Collection of Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.

This view, Living Room in the Style of the Greek Revival, like the lead image, Living Room in the Style of the Modern English School, illustrates the level of detail that Frary, as a designer, might put into a room. Some of the furniture would have been his designs, while other elements would be carefully selected antiques.

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It's not clear where the houses in these renderings were located, or even if they were built. Given the number, I would guess that at least one had been executed. However, the firm's commissions in Cleveland were almost entirely on Euclid Avenue, and so are likely lost. I'll delve further into the Brooks Household Art Co.'s commissions in a future post.



The Edwin Tillotson residence is a Tudor Revival structure at 1867 East 82nd Street, in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built in 1902-3. Meade and Garfield were the architects.

The Tillotson residence is one of the few remaining local structures for which the Brooks Household Art Co. did work. Perhaps Living Room in the Style of the Modern English School was for this house - or perhaps it was for one in Chicago or St. Louis. I haven't had a chance to look inside yet - but I suspect that it has been significantly modified over the years. Still, it's worth further investigation.

Do any of these look familar to you?

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The exhibition Designing History: I.T. Frary; Interior Design and the Beginnings of Historic Preservation in Ohio runs through July 16. I encourage you to take a look. The Cleveland Artists Foundation is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue, in Lakewood, Ohio.

Cleveland Artists in Zoar, Ohio

By Ora Coltman. Printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on January 31, 1897, on page 20.

As I mentioned before, I'm curating an exhibit on I.T. Frary for the Cleveland Artists Foundation. Recently, a colleague brought to my attention a watercolor painted by Frary, in 1897. It depicts a backyard scene in Zoar, Ohio.

Note: I have since learned that the painting is dated 1898. While this does invalidate some of the guesses made below regarding what Frary might have done that summer, it does not diminish the value of this information with regard to his career as a whole or to his associations with the individuals. It also doesn't affect the description of the events of that summer. One might guess that the work produced as a result of the summer of 1897 caused him to visit Zoar the following year.

Zoar is a small community, located on the Tuscarawas River, about 75 miles south of Cleveland. It was founded early in the 19th century by German separatists and long retained a communal lifestyle. It still has an "Old World" feel that made it a popular destination for artists.

I wanted to learn more about this painting. Who might Frary have visited Zoar with? Might I be able to locate their paintings, to provide some context for this one?

This article, alas, does not include an image of Frary's painting. That will have to wait for the exhibition at the Cleveland Artists Foundation, which opens June 3.

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Artists have long left the city during the summer months, holding "schools" in various rural destinations. F.C. Gottwald visited the town with students as early as 1888. (Plain Dealer, July 15, 1888, page 5)

An article the following year provides some suggestions as to the appeal. "Prof. F.C. Gottwald and his students, Misses Amy Smith, Nina Waldeck, L.B. Black, Agnes Krause, Jessie Jones, and Mrs. H.M. Claflin left for Zoar Saturday afternoon. The uninitiated doesn't known what attracts them so much at Zoar. It's unattractiveness is its chief attraction. Zoar is original. It is like no other town in this state, in this country, in the world. It is slow, sleepy, listless, and communistic. It is everyone for all and no one for himself. It is a world in itself. The town is German in style and character. The inhabitants are Germans of contented and sluggish dispositions." (Plain Dealer, June 24, 1889, page 3)


Evening in Zoar by F.C. Gottwald. Printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on January 31, 1897, on page 20.

It was common for teachers to take groups of students to this or that desirable rural location during the summer. While they were sometimes called "schools", they were usually informal gatherings.

For 1897, F.C. Gottwald and Ora Coltman planned a more organized environment, with classes running for ten weeks. It was noted that "The project will have the support and encouragement of the Zoar community. The students in attendance will form an artistic colony under one roof, which is believed will be of material advantage in the way of concertive effort, and there will be an attempt made to realize ideals of work not possible amid the distractions of larger places. Membership in the classes will be limited in number, and it will be necessary for pupils to register before the opening day, but there will be no entrance qualifications, and students can begin work at any time. To all these plans the Zoar society will actively lend itself, and it is felt by the projectors that the community has special advantages which could not be found anywhere else in the country." (Plain Dealer, January 31, 1897, page 20.)


A Typical Zoar Cottage by F.C. Gottwald. Printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on January 31, 1897, on page 21.

The story, of significant length, ran with the banner I led this story with. Illustrations of Ora Coltman and F.C. Gottwald's work depicting the rural nature of Zoar was scattered across the pages.

The ten week term was to being Monday, June 28, with classes in oil and watercolor painting, as well as the use of pastels. On rainy days, there would be studio work, either in the form of a model or a still life. (Plain Dealer, April 13, 1897, page 10)

A large number of Clevelanders made their way to Zoar that summer. At least a hundred were present in Zoar, per the hotel register published in the Plain Dealer on August 8. (page 5) Not all of these were artists, of course - some were simply there vacationing.


This image contains the work of the following artists, as seen clockwise, from upper left: T.J. Ritter; May F. Sanford; [unknown]; Lottie Hoff; Charles Shackelton; and Mary E. Willson. Published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on October 24, 1897, page 13.

An exhibit of the best work from the school was held at Natt's gallery, on Euclid Avenue, in October of that year. The exhibit, which consisted of about 60 paintings, almost entirely oils, contained the work of Ada C. Belt, F.C. Gottwald, Lottie Hoff, Mrs. A.J. Nesbitt, A.B. Ring, T.J. Ritter, Blanch Sanders, May Sanford, Charles Shackelton, Harold A. Streator, and Mary E. Willson. The reviewer notes "The uniform excellence of the work, considering it was really the first outdoor study the pupils had had, speaks well for their instructors and individual talent. All the attractive bits of scenery in and about the picturesque village seem to be been found, and one gets glimpses of houses, barns, fields, fence corners, roads, and gardens. Light, bright studies they are, full of summer's rich color and atmosphere, and in very few instances are there daubs and false motions of color in the application of pigments. Mr. Harold Streator's work is undoubtedly the best, his talent having been quite marked while a pupil at the Art school in this city. Mr. Streator has a view of the red brick church and two or thtree other very charming landscapes, which are very praiseworthy. Miss Belt, who was a very moving spirit in the school and a great favorite on account of her enthusiasm and untiring zeal, has some clever work; while Miss Ring, Miss Sanford, and Miss Sanders have also some attractive bits. Mr. Shackelton's "Main Roadway to Zoar" is especially pleasing in coloring and composition. Mr. Gottwald's chief picture, painted at Zoar during the summer, is a large canvas entitled "The Neighbors." It was exhibited at the exposition recently, and is one of the best "old men" studies this talented artist has ever done." (Plain Dealer, October 24, 1897, page 13)


The Neighbors by F.C. Gottwald. Printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on September 12, 1897, on page 22.

A review of Gottwald's painting notes "One feels that his ability to paint this particular type of character so forcibly and directly comes from his love of and sympathy with old men." It continues "The two men are in great contrast. The noe who stands outside shows evidence of a life of poverty and toil. His patient face, lined with care, the droop of his shoulders, his attitude have a pathos that awakens in the obserber a feeling of pity akin to tears. With the other it is not so. His ruddy countenance shows that his life has been of comparative ease. He has had the advantages of education." After speculating on the reasons for this, the author notes "In harmony with the contrast between the men, the reader is placed in the light, with patches of sunlight falling upon him, while the listener stands in the shadow of a picturesque old apple tree, which spreads its branches over him. Behind the two is the quaint village garden. The morning sun flits through the trees in bits of sparking light on the bushes and plants. In the background are the outlines of several village houses." He concludes "The picture was evidently painted while the artist was under the influence of deep feeling for the subject, and Mr. Gottwald is to be congratulated upon the success of his work." (Plain Dealer September 12, 1897, page 22)

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What does this all tell us about I.T. Frary and his participation in the school? Why, if he painted this while the class was at Zoar, was he not in the exhibit?

It's quite possible that he simply wasn't able to devote the same amount of time to the class as the other students. Or perhaps he visited briefly with some of these artists.


Main Street, Chagrin Falls, by F.C. Gottwald. 1899. Oil on canvas, 18 x 13 in. From the collection of William McCoy. Plate 28 in F.C. Gottwald and the Old Bohemians (Cleveland Artists Foundation, 1993)

Frary was likely an associate, to some extent, of Gottwald. He took at least one class with Gottwald, in the summer of 1899, in Chagrin Falls. Frary exhibited his work from the class, along with participants Ada C. Belt, Arthur Bohnard, Zella Broughton, Lyda M. Cox, Halliwell King, Florence H. Reid, Charles Shackleton, and Carrie B. Vorce, at Guenther’s Art Rooms, on Euclid Avenue, from November 6-12, 1899. (Plain Dealer, November 12, 1899, page 20)

Ada Belt and Charles Shackelton were also listed in the Zoar exhibit. Lyda Cox was among those in later Cleveland Water Color Society exhibits with Frary. (Plain Dealer December 5, 1899, page 7, November 24, 1901, page 16, and December 3, 1901, page 11)

These individuals were, at the very least, associates of Frary. It's reasonable to make some connection between their work. Further, by 1900, F.C. Gottwald's studio was in the building of the Brooks Household Art Co., were Frary was a designer. (Plain Dealer, April 15, 1900, page 29) If his studio was, in fact, in that building in 1897, Gottwald might have encouraged Frary to visit Zoar that summer.

There's a certain amount of conjecture here, I will admit. This is not an attempt to carve any facts in stone, but to generally illustrate a group of associates at a certain point in time.

Assembling a Museum Exhibit - I Need Your Help!

The Life and Works of I.T. Frary

I'm working on an exhibit for the Cleveland Artists Foundation on I.T. (Ihna Thayer) Frary, scheduled for June and July of this year.

I.T. Frary is best known as an author and photographer. His works include the classic Early Homes of Ohio, as well as Thomas Jefferson: Architect and Builder, Early American Doorways, They Built the Capitol, and Ohio in Homespun and Calico.

Frary was born in Cleveland and attended the Cleveland School of Art (now the Cleveland Institute of Art). He was chief designer at Brooks Household Art Co., and later a desiger at Rorimer-Brooks. Following this, he worked as an independent designer. He went to Texas for a YMCA position during World War I. On returning to Cleveland, he worked at the Cleveland Museum of Art, as Membership and Publicity Secretary. During this time, he wrote and spoke extensively on the architectural heritage of this area. He was on a national advisory board for the Historic American Buildings Survey, and is part of the reason why they were able to locate and document so many significant structures in this area. After retiring, he moved to Winter Park, Florida.

Frary exhibited his design sketches with the Cleveland Architectural Club and his other paintings in group shows with members of the Cleveland School, in the 1890s through 1910s. Later, his photographs would be included in major museum exhitions, including the Thomas Jefferson Bicentennial Exhibition at the National Gallery of Art and The Greek Revival in the United States, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a list of the exhibitions that Ihna Thayer Frary was a part of or that I strongly suspect he was a part of.

I've researched Frary extensively in the collections of the Western Reserve Historical Society and the Ohio Historical Society.

I'm writing this with the hope that you can help me locate graphical materials relating to I.T. Frary.



The following are but some of the things that I'd be interested in finding:

• Items designed/produced by the Brooks Otis Household Art Co. or the Brooks Household Art Co.
  
• Items designed by Rorimer-Brooks before about 1915. (Note: it would have been spelled Rorheimer-Brooks at the time.)
  
• Any of four items designed for the Hocking Glass Co. 1, 2, 3, 4.
  
• A tile fireplace designed for Rookwood Pottery's Architectural Division, project number A403
  
• Any paintings or drawings created by Frary.
  
• Any photographs or personal materials relating to him and his work.
  

Note that Frary's signature wasn't always the most ledgible. Here are two examples, one from 1897, at left, from this design sketch and one from c. 1935, at right. I've seen several editorial cartoons from c. 1910 signed merely "Frary", so this might be expected.

Again, I appreciate any assistance you might be able to offer any materials you might be willing to loan. Please contact me directly at ClevelandAreaHistory@gmail.com

Revisiting the Context: The Warner House, Unionville

Or: Yet Another Case Where I Don't Know Everything



I've been doing a lot of research of late, trying to locate and look at (if only briefly) everything of significance that's been written about the 19th century buildings of northeast Ohio.

This meant finally breaking down and getting a Greater Access library card. With it, one can have books from any Ohiolink library sent to any other one, including your local branch, for pickup.

One of these titles was Frank J. Roos, Jr.'s 1938 Ph.D. dissertation, An Investigation of the Sources of Early Architectural Design in Ohio. The title, as delivered to me, is illustrated by 160 black and white photographs. Many of these are original images. I'll be addressing them in detail at a later date.

This dissertation is one of the earliest publications on the historic architecture of Ohio. The only earlier book on the subject is I.T. Frary's Early Homes of Ohio, published in 1936. Frary's work is a classic - both for the work he did here in Ohio, as well as on a wider scale, for the way he addresses something other than just the most grand homes. Early Homes of Ohio is on my short list of essential titles for understanding the architecture of northeast Ohio.

Frary's work is also the subject of some more extensive research that I've been doing for a museum exhibit scheduled for the summer of 2011. As such, I'll be addressing him in further detail in future posts.

To get back to the subject at hand - the doorway of the Warner house, pictured above, that I featured on Tuesday in a post about historic architecture in Madison and Unionville. It's located in Unionville, on County Line Road, just south of the cemetery. It appears to have recently been restored, and is definitely eye-catching. There's something different about it - I assumed that it was the quality of the carving and the sharp detail.



I didn't realize, however, was that it is missing some key elements, namely four Ionic columns. I just discovered this photograph, by Frank J. Roos, Jr., and used as figure 102 in his dissertation. The photograph, likely taken between 1935 and 1938, illustrates the doorway as it was. Alas, it does not show the details of the fretwork in the windows surrounding the door, something that I have not seen elsewhere in northeast Ohio.

Note how the columns provide (visual) support for the elements above them. Further note that the spaces where the columns once stood now appear visually empty, when compared with the rest of the doorway.



Some have compared this to the work of Jonathan Goldsmith, illustrated here by the doorways from the Isaac Gillet house (left), built 1821 in Painesville (now in the Cleveland Musuem of Art) and the William Peck Robinson house (right), built in 1831 in Willoughby (now part of Hale Farm and Village). Frary suggests that "The front doorway of the Warner house, though similar to the others in design, seems to be a copy by a less able man than Goldsmith." (Early Homes of Ohio, page 35)

I disagree with Frary's assessment. To my eyes, the more bold lines of the carving on the Warner door are pleasing in their own right. They have an appeal that is different from that of Goldsmith's work, which tends to be much more refined. It would be interesting to find additional historic photographs of this structure, that we might better understand it. Perhaps the collection of Frary's photos at the Ohio Historical Society will provide this illumination.