Stories of Cleveland by Current Clevelanders

Historic Rockefeller Home

In 2008, I joined the Elysium Skating Club. The club has a long history of its own, founded in 1956 and, sadly, disbanded in 2010 due to dwindling membership. Ironically, the club last skated at the Cleveland Heights Community Center in the original Forest Hill area at Mayfield and Monticello Roads in Cleveland Heights. The club was organized for proficient adult skaters. Members skated alone, in pairs, and/or trios with live organ music accompaniment.

After becoming involved with this Cleveland History Project, I was talking with fellow Elysium member, Beryl. After I explained the purpose of the project, Beryl informed me that she and her husband, Gary live in one of the original homes in the Forest Hill Development area—what a coincidence!

Beryl recommended the book, Images of America, Forest Hill the Rockefeller Estate, by Forest Hill resident, Sharon E. Gregor. Her book details information and contains photographs pertaining to the development. Many of the facts contained in this blog article were found in Ms. Gregor’s book and credit for additional information goes to the Forest Hill Home Owners website, www.fhho.org. To better depict Beryl and Gary’s historic home, a little background information may be helpful to the reader.

During the early 1920’s, John D. Rockefeller divided his private estate. From a portion of this land, he created a park, still in existence, named Forest Hill Park. The Rockefeller Allotment was created out of the remaining real estate and became the Forest Hill neighborhood.

In 1923 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., purchased his father’s real estate. Two years later, the family’s realty company announced a plan to develop a model community. Originally, the development was planned to include 600 homes, apartments, a hotel, country club, inn, and a commercial block. The location of the development was to be on farmland east of Lee Road. Many Cleveland Heights and other eastern suburban Clevelanders have passed the beautiful commercial French Norman brick building at the corner of Mayfield and Lee Roads daily and have not been cognizant of its historic significance. However, the building’s name, Heights Rockefeller Building, has been well recognized.

This community was to be a model of the best in urban development and design and, of course, it was expected to be profitable. Young professionals and Standard Oil executives were the target market.

Actual construction on the development did not begin until the end of 1929, and it was essentially halted from 1931-1938, with the exception of five homes built in 1936. Of the 600 homes planned, only 81 were built, as a result of the Depression. In 1986, the 81 Rockefeller homes along with the Heights Rockefeller Building were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Andrew J. Thomas, a New York architect, was selected for the project by Rockefeller. Thomas was selected because of the determination he had demonstrated to improve housing conditions in New York City. (The “garden apartment” concept has been credited to him.) He also worked on various other Rockefeller projects. His background served as a strong foundation in the movement toward suburban development.

Thomas asked for and was granted complete control of the project. He envisioned this development as a village of French Norman style farm houses. Thomas was in control of the architecture, street layout, and even the engineering of the community’s infrastructure.

Nine distinct house plans were designed by Thomas. Only the very best materials were used in the construction of the homes. For example, the homes were all built with graduated slate or terra cotta roofs, steel “I” beams, quarter-sawn oak floors, and brass fittings in the bathrooms. Hotel architects designed the homes’ interiors.

The largest and most expensive were the corner homes, which offered the buyer a choice of two floor plans. According to Ms. Gregor, the original selling price of these homes was between $40,000 and $45,000. The corner homes were the only ones with attached garages. Interior upgrades included tile floors in the dining room and beamed ceilings in the living room. These homes had first floor laundry rooms and a large living space in the basement area. Thomas envisioned this area as a “playroom”. Although he had no children, Thomas had great regard for children’s well-being.

Every Rockefeller home had three and a half bathrooms, which was a unique innovation in homes of that size, at the time. Ms. Gregor states: Thomas’ “goal was to make affordable a standard of living where ‘you don’t have to be rich to live in a mansion’.”

The majority of the 81 homes were built in mirrored pairs. Each pair shared a driveway separating them. There was a pillar and a gate between them at the beginning of the driveway. These homes had a two-car garage at basement level. Thomas’ rationale was to keep the cars “hidden” and allow more driveway room for maneuvering the automobiles in and out of the garages. Ms. Gregor noted that the most typical of the 81 homes were the Plan “K” which was priced at $27,000 prior to the Depression. During the Depression, however, the price of the homes was cut in half. When the homes still failed to sell, they were then leased.

All the homes were completely landscaped prior to being sold. Some of the beautiful plantings included, japonica, Japanese azalea, rhododendron, plum trees in full bloom, rose bushes, and of course, the oak, maple, and buckeye trees that line the streets to this day. Sharon Gregor stated the “the whole effect of the landscape design”……”was to convey a sense of permanence, a sense of harmony and cohesiveness. The goal was to create the illusion of an established community in the form of a French Norman village”.

The development had many deed restrictions. The homes were intended for Standard Oil executives and their families. Originally, African Americans and Jewish people were restricted from the community. Specific property restrictions included barrier fences, farm animals, and outbuildings. There continue to be strict rules regarding which exterior changes may or may not be made to the homes.

Beryl and Gary are the 4^th owners of one of the 81 original Rockefeller homes. Their home is one of the mirrored pairs. They moved to this historic location from Shaker Heights. One of their requirements in relocating was the desire to be close to Cleveland’s vibrant University Circle. The couple shared that they “fell in love” with the house when they first looked at it while shopping for a home.

Beryl indicated that current Rockefeller home residents represent a very diverse group of people. There is a resident’s association, the Forest Hill Home Owners, Inc., which produces a monthly newsletter. Readers may wish to visit their website for more detailed information: www.fhho.org.

There are garden tours at some of the homes every other year on the last Saturday in June. The tours originated because the homes, initially, had rose gardens. Beryl and Gary’s beautiful home and garden were included on the tours three times since they became residents of this historic neighborhood.

Dan Ruminski and I were graciously invited to visit Beryl and Gary’s lovely home last summer (see photos). Although I have lived in Cleveland my entire life, I had no recollection of having seen the picturesque tree lined streets and stately homes in the Rockefeller development before this visit.

Anyone who lives in Cleveland, or who has guests visiting, should take a ride to explore this area to marvel at the quality, symmetry, and beauty of the Rockefeller homes and their settings. This is a lesser known area of Cleveland which has a definite relationship to that period of time when all eyes were focused on this city.

— Roberta Malbin Levenson