sandr018

 The last part of Stan Hywet that I'll share are the gardens - last but not least! I think an important feature to mention straight away is that most of these gardens (of the much reduced estate) were designed to be viewed from the house, or at least with those views in mind. The first area of the gardens I'll share first though isn't actually visible from the house however. The walled English Garden is like a secret garden really, hidden from the house and main gardens. One enters through the this little outbuilding seen above.  Once inside the lush plantings and water features take you miles away.  Looking back towards the entry. The walls of the garden almost appear to be ruins of an old house -but they were expressly built for Mrs. Seiberling, an avid gardener.  The Akron garden club, of which she was an active member, still takes care of this section of the garden.  I love how the brick walkways have aged over time.  At the rear of the garden is anothe...

Summertime (and an inordinate number of photos) got in the way of a speedy posting of the Stan Hywet interiors that I mentioned on the outside of the house post ( HERE ) but I finally pulled them together! The floorplans show only the 2 main levels of the house which gargantually measures in at around 65,000 SF.   True to the Tudor Revival style the interiors are rather dark and gloomy; moody even. To our modern eyes this may appear like a bad thing but at this time period it would have been standard. Inexpensive electricity and technology have ruined our eyes and we now expect glaring interiors. Well you won't find them at Stan Hywet !  The main room of the house is the Great Hall found right at the center of the plan; a sort of modern day great room but also true to the style's medieval hall.  Hallways with great detailing radiate off the Great Hall and lead to other rooms. The hallways are wide enough to be furnished and provide gracious circulation. Tucked along thes...