Visiting Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens | Thing to Do in Akron, Ohio | The House That Rubber Built

Visiting Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens | Thing to Do in Akron, Ohio | The House That Rubber Built

Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens is such an overwhelmingly peaceful estate sitting on 70 acres of pristine land in Akron, Ohio. You’ll feel as if you’ve stepped into the past when you visit this historical landmark. And if you’re anything like me you’ll be trying to figure out ways you can move on in without anyone noticing!!

*Unfortunately this is all together impossible since the estate has daily tours in which visitors explore the house, but a girl can still dream!

I’m going to share some beautiful images with you, of the Stan Hywet property, but I also want to let you in on the history because a) unless you’re from this area odds are you have no idea what this place is and b) it’s totally interesting and you can use this knowledge at your next dinner party, brunch outing, or office get together to impress everyone!

I recommend that if you enjoy the little history lesson I provide to hop on over to Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens to learn more. I must credit the site and the ever so knowledgeable staff at the estate on everything I know about the property.


*And speaking of the amazing staff, last October I couldn’t locate a pumpkin, to carve, for the life of me. (I must mention it was the day before Halloween.)  A staff member at Stan Hywet felt so bad for me that she let me take a decorative pumpkin from the property! 

Now back on topic!!!!
So first,  you may wondering how an 64,500 sq ft manor house, including 5 historical buildings and ten historical gardens covering 70 acres winds up in Akron Ohio. Right?!  Well Stan Hywet Hall was built between 1912-1915 by Frank Seiberling, co-founder of The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. *Ahh! There ya go, a company you may know huh?!? Make a bit more sense now?!

So Frank started Goodyear back in 1898 with his brother and the company quickly became the largest rubber company in the world.

With the company becoming the world’s largest rubber company, Akron became the rubber capital of the world, and the Seiberling’s needed more room for their growing family, so they decided to lay down some roots on Portage Path. Nicknamed “the house that rubber built”!! The Seiberling’s lived in Stan Hywet Hall for 40 years.

Today San Hywet is the nation’s 6th largest historical home that is open to the public and it’s Akron’s first and largest National Historical Landmark.

It’s quite a beautiful property and every time I visit I imagine what it’d be like to be in the Seiberling family and live in that house. Or jeez even a long lost relative that comes over on holidays!

This time I visited I didn’t go in the manor so you’ll be seeing images of the beautiful gardens, the lagoon, and the exterior of the home.

Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy and ponder about what it must have been like to live here in the early 1900’s. So cool!

English Garden

This is my favorite of all the gardens at Stan Hywet. It is a wall enclosed garden with 3,300 perennials and a reflecting pool in the middle.

Japanese Garden

The Japanese Garden is located behind the house. It was meant to be a tranquil space. It features a variety of stone walkways twisting and turning over tiny streams and grass. I can envision some good meditation sessions out here.
Birch Tree Allee

This walkway can look so different depending on the time of year.  It’s a 550-foot alleyway of trees that leads up to one side entrance to the estate. It’s absolutely beautiful and fully inspired me to strick a yoga pose.
The Lagoon

The lagoons were used for swimming, fishing,  ice skating, and canoeing. You can also see the stone garden pavilion in these images.
Grape Arbor

This is where the Seiberling grand children liked to play. There were a variety of different types of grapes that could be picked directly from the arbor
Hope you enjoyed your private tour of Stan Hywet and go or and explore. Adventure awaits!

*I included some photos from my visit last October also.

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