Herrick House Opens at Hale Farm & Village

In 1981, the Jonathan Herrick House was slated for demolish at its original location on Darrow Road near Old Mill Road; an industrial park was to be built in its place. Thanks to a $25,000 grant and a donation from the land developer, a plan was implemented within six weeks in order to dismantle and move the house to Hale Farm and Village.

Norma Stefanik was the architecture consultant at Hale Farm and Village who oversaw the initial challenge of moving the home, considered “one of the finest stone houses of Greek Revival architecture in the Western Reserve”. The home was built out of locally quarried sandstone, rumored to have been purchased from another Herrick relative who lived in the area and owned a stone quarry. Jonathan Herrick was one of seven brothers. Born in Worthington, Massachusetts, he moved to Aurora, Ohio in 1826 and married Phila Clark shortly after. The stone home was built in 1845, weighing 141 tons. Because of the home’s original stone construction, the home could not be moved as a whole but needed to be entirely dismantled stone by stone. Wallpaper was peeled off and mortar chipped off in order to prepare for moving. It took 20 truckloads to transport the stones, which had each been individually numbered to assist in the reconstruction process.

Because of the cost required for rebuilding the home, the stones sat in a pile for years before the reconstruction process could begin. Conservator Shawn Godwin was responsible for helping restore the home, which finally opened to the public on Friday, July 8, 1989.

Jonathan Herrick and his family are buried at Locust Grove Cemetery.

Additional Source Information from:
-Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 29, 1982, accessed from Cleveland Public Library Newsbank database
-Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 21, 1988, accessed from Cleveland Public Library Newsbank database
-Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 2, 1989, accessed from Cleveland Public Library Newsbank database
-Twinsburg, Ohio, 1817-1917

Posted in Historic Sites and Landmarks, Residential.