Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens

In 1898, F.A. Seiberling founded The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, naming it after Charles Goodyear, the inventor of the vulcanization process for rubber. It was the turn of the twentieth century and the Industrial Age was forming modern America where cities grew and industries flourished. Akron, Ohio was no exception - it built its foundation on the rubber industry to become the "Rubber Capital of the World."

Like many of his industrialist peers, F.A. Seiberling had architectural aspirations. Between 1912 and 1915, he and his wife, Gertrude, built their country estate and named it "Stan Hywet" (Old English for stone quarry) the property's most prominent natural feature. While European country houses were based on generations of title and wealth, the American country estates were built by self-made financial giants. Vanderbilt's Biltmore, Rockefeller's Kykuit, and Hearst's San Simeon, are well-known examples.

The short-lived American Country Estate building boom began to decline in the 1920s, and by the 1960s many of the most elegant homes ever built in this country had been lost to the wrecking ball. Stan Hywet remains as one of the most important historic estates to endure from this bygone era.

In 1957, the Seiberling family donated Stan Hywet to a non-profit organization so that the public could enjoy and experience a noteworthy chapter in American history. Above the Manor House entryway, the crest bearing the motto Non Nobis Solum (Not for Us Alone), welcomes guests as warmly today as it did a century ago.

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens is Akron's only National Historic Landmark and Save America's Treasures project. It is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

Explore Related Categories