Seymour Mansion in Belden

From 65438 to 0934, during the Great Depression, President franklin delano roosevelt commissioned the Civil Engineering Administration (CWA) to conduct a special survey of American cities, hoping to collect information that would help the country's sustained economic recovery. 1934 On August 22nd, when a census taker from Roosevelt came to his old mansion at 3805 Franklin Street in Cleveland, Cleveland Publishing House published an article. He was surprised to find that not only 80 people lived in this mansion, but also 30 people lived in a converted carriage house in the backyard, and 30 people lived in the house next door, which was also part of the apartment building. On the day when the census taker of CWA arrived, the owners of all three houses were 75-year-old Belden Seymour, who was the head of a real estate company in Cleveland and the son of the man of the same name who built this mansion for his family, including his teenage son Belden. Sixty years ago, Belden Seymour came from Vermont and moved to Ohio from 65438 to 0848. At that time, due to the completion of the Ohio-Erie Canal ten years ago, Lake Erie was connected with the Ohio River. The towns on the other side of Cleveland and cuyahoga river, Ohio have become prosperous cities since the Great Railroad era. Seymour wisely invested in real estate here, especially in Ohio City, which became the western part of Cleveland after it was annexed by Cleveland in 1854. Soon, Belden Seymour became one of the wealthy elites in the West Side.

Seymour and his family lived in Pearl Street (today's West 25th Street) 1865. At that time, his good friend Owen masters also died, leaving a will, with Seymour as one of his executors. His Greek Renaissance style house is also included in masters Manor, built at 1853, located at the southwest corner of Franklin Avenue and Kentucky (West 38th Street). Seymour bought the house from a real estate company and a nearby vacant lot. 187 1 year, he moved the former mayor's house 80 feet to the west, moved to an adjacent vacant lot, and then began to build a big Italian-style house on the old site of the owner's house. Completed in 1874, this mansion has more than 7,500 square feet of living space, a three-story tower (which can be seen in the aerial view of Cleveland in 1877), gorgeous windows, skylights, balconies and bay windows rarely seen in this period, elegant double front doors and beautiful front porches, making it one of the millionaires in western luxury houses.

Belden Seymour lived in this mansion until 1889. In the ten years after his death, his widow Eleanor and her son Belden transformed this mansion into a luxurious residence for a family of four, and also transformed the carriage into a single-family residence, and moved the latter's building eastward to its present position. 19 10 After Eleanor's death, the ownership of this mansion and the converted carriage house, as well as the house of the former owner next door, passed to her two married adult children, Belden and Mary Eleanor, and finally she went to Belden alone. Under his ownership, the mansion (3805 Franklin), the converted carriage house (380 1 Franklin) and the old owner's house (381kloc-0/Franklin) gradually began to accommodate more and more tenants, even attics and basements. It was not until 1934 that President Roosevelt's census takers discovered these three houses.

Appeared in the 1920s, no later than 1926, Belden Seymour hired Elizabeth "Pearl" Hain as his property manager. She is a tenant at 3805 Franklin Street. This is a recruitment decision, which will have an impact on the future of Seymour Tower and two other related houses in Belden. Hein managed these properties for Seymour until he sold the house to A.M. McGregor shortly before his death. Within two years after the transfer, Y in Cleveland, possibly following up the information collected from CWA Census 1934, began to list all the houses that repeatedly violated the city's property law. In the same year, A.M.McGregor House transferred the ownership of the house to Cleveland Rentals, Inc., which was founded by real estate manager Hayne. In the next 50 years,

Belden Seymour House and two other related houses are owned and managed by Hayne family. Belden Seymour's house was even once called "Pearl Haley's family hotel". At least since 1939, Cleveland has always found many irregularities in Haines' property. At least three times, Belden Seymour's house was severely destroyed by fire, probably because of these violations. However, urban construction and the continuous law enforcement activities of fire officials eventually led to a decrease in the number of tenants living in houses and the establishment of safer, healthier and more hygienic living conditions.

1989 The daughter of Pearl Haines in Serene, Alberta, has been managing Belden Seymour's house and two other properties with her husband since her mother 196 1 died. She transferred these properties to Franklin real estate company established by Dr. James L. Hall and his partner Richard Turnbull. During the ownership of these two houses, little work was done on their appearance. In 20 16, Franklin real estate company transferred these properties to 380 1 Franklin LLC, which was founded by Adam Heine. Since the acquisition of these properties, Hayon has been committed to renovating the historic Seymour and masters mansions. In 20 17, the main residence Franklin 38 1 1 was rebuilt into a two-family residence. In the same year, Heine turned his attention to Seymour Mansion in Belden at No.3805 Franklin, tearing off several layers of insulating brick and vinyl wallboard, revealing the original wooden wallboard and other wooden architectural features of the house for the first time in decades. At the end of 20 17, the Cleveland Landmark Committee issued a certificate, which proved that the renovation of Seymour's house in Belden proposed by Hein was appropriate. As of August 20 18, the proposal still needs to be considered by other city councils. In the near future, Belden Seymour's house, together with Owen masters' house, is likely to become two recently renovated houses on historic Franklin Avenue.