Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens
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Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens (70 acres) is a notable country estate, with gardens, located at 714 North Portage Path in Akron, Ohio. It is open daily, April 1 through December 30; an admission fee is charged.
The estate was built between 1912 and 1915 for F. A. Seiberling, founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He gave it the name Stan Hywet, Old English for stone quarry, to reflect the site's earlier use. Architect Charles Sumner Schneider designed the Tudor Revival house, with Hugo F. Huber as interior decorator. Most of the furnishings came from New York City, but some were purchased in England. The estate grounds, originally above 1,000 acres in extent, were designed between 1911-1915 by Boston landscape architect Warren H. Manning, and remain today one of the finest examples of his work. In 1957 the Seiberling family donated Stan Hywet to a non-profit organization for its preservation. Its openness to the public is in fitting with the stone inscription above the main hall's door, "Non nobis solum," meaning "Not for us alone."
Major gardens within the estate include the Birch Allee Vista, Breakfast Room Garden, Dell, English Garden, Grape Arbor, Great Garden, Great Meadow, Japanese Garden, Lagoon, and West Terrace. The English Garden was designed by noted landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman. The largest of the Lagoon's pools measures 15 feet deep and was created from the site's quarry. The estate also includes a fine greenhouse, the Corbin Conservatory, designed by architect Charles Schneider.
