We’re going to the Tire Factory

[jenseib]

Hi all. I thought I would write up a little report about our spring getaway this past Spring, April 17-19.
For those that don’t know me, I am Jen and a big Disney fan, however this trip was only a local weekend trip. I am a mother to 3 and a grandmother to 1. My youngest is10 and she still likes traveling with us. I am married to Skip, who for the most part is anti-travel, though he does have his good moments. And when I say anti-travel it usually means the travel I want verses what he wants.
It started about a month or so before we actually went. Skip said he would like to do a weekend trip. OK that sounds great. Originally we had been talking about going to Disneyland this year some time. Skip kept putting it off for various reasons…bad winter, selling the dairy cows, and a few other odd reasons.
For those who don’t know, Skip has been in the dairy business since the day he was born. He and his brother run the business and basically had just become burned out. It is a LOT of work, Every…Single…Day…Of…The…Year!
It became official at the end of March. We made the switch from Dairy farmers to beef farmers. Those who followed my last report did read about this switch at the end. It is now July….3 months of dairy retirement….and we are going back into the business. Needless to say I knew this would happen. They both were board about 2 weeks later. Without getting into all the details, about a month or so after retiring, they decided they wanted back and in and put an order in for a robotic milker. We will be milking a lot less cows this time around and the robot will free up a bunch of time. The first part of the robot actually arrived yesterday and the plan is to have it all ready to go in the fall when the next round of cows will be ready to be milked. Again, there is a lot more to it, but that’s the quick and easy version.
So back to the weekend getaway….Skip said it would have to happen after the retirement. His first suggestion was to go to Tennessee to Pigeon Forge. That sounded like a lot of fun but it’s a long drive from Ohio. We would really need to leave on a Thursday and come home on a Monday for it to be worth the long trip. After looking it over Skip told me to look up fun things to do in Ohio. Well…Let’s just say Ohio is pretty boring, especially in the Spring. It was funny to see how many things that popped up were actually in the Toledo area and we had done most of them already. Cedar Point is a big attraction in Ohio, but it was too early for that to be even open. I am not a big waterpark person, but I did look into those options because Claire, our 10 year old, does love to swim.
Literally the week before we left we finally came to a decision. I had found a mansion to be toured in the Akron Ohio area. That’s a couple of hours away, so it wasn’t too far, but yet far enough to say we went away.
The mansion is called Stan Hewett. It was also celebrating it’s 100 year anniversary, which kind of made it exciting.
The mansion was built by F.A. Seiberling for his family. Who is F.A. Seiberling? Well he is one of the creators of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The company was named after Charles Goodyear who actually invented the vulcanization process of rubber.
I did a bit of quick research and it really looked beautiful and they offered paid tours or you could do a self-tour of the grounds and house.
We then decided that one night in the Akron area was all we needed and looked for a 2nd night elsewhere. We decide a waterpark hotel would keep Claire happy. I looked at all the popular places in the Sandusky area. Ideally we wanted to stay at Kalahari, which we stayed at several years ago. It was pretty much booked up and what was available….well let’s just say the cost of the room could’ve paid for half of a trip for our family to go to Disney World.
I next looked at Great Wolf Lodge, and again very little available and what was left was a bit pricey. In the end we went with Castaway Bay which is Cedar Points Waterpark hotel.
During the researching process I thought it would be nice for Claire to bring a friend along. We are boring and we know it. At 10 we knew a little weekend away would be more fun with another 10 year old.
My very good friend has a 10 year old, Haley, and she and Claire went to school together. I had in the back of my mind to suggest this to Skip…..and he beat me to it and asked Claire if she would like to bring Haley along. Of course she did, so we contacted Haley’s family and the plans were all made.
We would be leaving Friday right after school and come home sometime Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t Disney, but we would be getting away!

 

[mom2rtk]

I wonder if I can do better keeping up this time? Or have I been banished for poor trip report following in the past?

 

[jenseib]

I wonder if I can do better keeping up this time? Or have I been banished for poor trip report following in the past?

Hopefully I can post this fast and you won't have too long to have to keep up

 

[mom2rtk]

Hopefully I can post this fast and you won't have too long to have to keep up

Good plan!

 

[princessbelle2015]

Joining in

 

[dizneeat]

I am here, Jen! Need to go back to read your intro now.

 

[jenseib]

Good plan!

Well in theory it is!

Joining in

Welcome!!!

I am here, Jen! Need to go back to read your intro now.

Yay!!!

 

[jenseib]

Day 1, Friday April 17, 2015
The planning was done and the day arrived.

Haley’s mom stopped by on the way to school and dropped off her bag and they took Claire to school with them. I finished up the packing for the most part Thursday night and got everything situated at home. Being a short weekend I didn’t need to bring a lot of things.

Skip and I had a Dr’s appointment that morning. This was a new Dr. for me, but Skip had seen him a few times before. He is about 1 ½ hours away. Long story short, he deals with healing things in different ways, using Chinese and Russian techniques. He has glowing reviews from people we know and Skip wanted me to see him about my back. It was a very interesting visit and this guy is pretty darn cool and we have returned a few times since as well.

By the time we got home it wasn’t too much longer and it would be time to pick the girls up from school. The day turned out to be really nice. I was wearing shorts out and about for the first time of the season and it felt wonderful. I had only packed jeans so I did a quick run around the house to find some shorts to throw in the suitcase for all of us. ( I still had most in the storage bins for the winter.)

I picked the girls up and they both changed into shorts and we loaded the car and soon we were on our way.

The girls had their tablets and headphones on so we didn’t hear a lot out of them along the way except when they had to go to the bathroom.
The ride was long but not too bad. As we got into Eastern Ohio, it amazes me….as it always does.... how hilly it is. Where I live the land is completely flat. It was as if we had left Ohio.



Off in the distance there is this big bridge we go under. We knew we were getting close when we saw it. This picture is terrible but it’s there.




Skip kept making comments the whole way about going to the Tire Factory. He just thought he was so funny….the girls were clueless on what he meant. Akron is known as the Rubber Capital of the World, but when we told them that they still had blank stares on their faces.
Finally we were off the turnpike and rolling into Cuyahoga Falls, which is a suburb of Akron. The hotel I chose was located there and not very far from Stan Hewett.

We found the hotel, a Country Inn and Suites….a first time stay for us…and parked and headed in to check in. The lobby was nice and looked just like pictures of all Country Inn and Suites I have seen online. There was a spot set up with water, which I thought was water with lemon slices in it and cookies. Skip and the kids attacked the cookies while I was at the desk checking in.

Skip came over to tell us the water was pineapple water and we all started laughing because of the way he said it, even the desk clerk. I really thought he was joking as that is something he would do, but I later found out it really did have pineapple in it. That’s super odd…never heard of water with pineapple in it before. LOL.

We were on the 2nd floor and there was the choice of elevator or stairs from the lobby that went to the 2nd floor. Since we had bags, we chose the elevator. As we were walking to the elevator a family dressed in baseball gear went to the check in desk and asked about their room and how close it would be to so and so’s room. This should’ve been a warning sign…..I didn’t catch on till later. Our hotel was going to host several baseball families, with a ton of boys….a ton of boys means a lot of noise. UGH.

I had booked a room that had a living room with pull out couch…for the girls…and a bedroom for Skip and I with a King bed. Both rooms had a TV and it really made for a nice layout for all of us.

The girls quickly got on their swimsuits as did Skip so they could head to the pool. I went about taking pictures of the room first.
Skip had already laid on our bed and messed it up, but this was the king bed.



ci2 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

A look from our room into the living room.
ci3 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

ci4 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Closet area across from the bathroom and right before our bedroom door.

ci5 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

A look back, bathroom door on the left and bedroom to the back.

ci6 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

ci7 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

And after a few quick pictures I then went down to take some lobby pictures.

ci8 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

ci9 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

ci10 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

ci11 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

There is the pineapple water.

ci12 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

And what is left of the cookies….some of the baseball families had checked in at this point.

ci13 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

This is the area where the free breakfast is served.

ci14 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

ci15 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

And you Disney fans will love the name of the breakfast area.

ci16 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

The smoking area was right out front of the hotel on both sides.

ci17 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

After my little quickie tour I went back to the room and put my suit on and headed to the pool to find the girls having a blast.

pool1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

ci18 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

ci19 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

The pool was pretty cold for my taste so I enjoyed the hot tub.
We spent a good amount of time at the pool, but I was getting hungry. After a bit I got out and started looking on my phone for nearby restaurants. I found a few and started naming them off. Longhorn was Claire’s choice, Haley…McDonalds. I really think Skip was liking Haley’s choice but I was not about to eat at McDonalds for dinner.

We headed back to the room and the girls put on dresses and we set out. Finally Skip relented to Claire’s pleas for Longhorn and that is where we went. It was basically right around the corner, so very easy to get to.

There was a small wait, but not too bad for a Friday night.
The girls and I all got steaks and I don’t remember what Skip got. I will admit, that I did not take a lot of pictures like I normally do on this vacation.

dinner1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

The food hit the spot and was very good.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and the girls wanted to go swimming again. As we walked in the lobby we knew the baseball boys had all arrived judging by the amount of noise coming from the pool area.

They quickly changed and I took them to the pool. It was packed with a lot of wild boys and few girls. Parents were all drinking poolside. The pool didn’t have many chairs and I knew I would be standing. I noticed no towels left on the rack so I told the girls to wait to get in while I went to the desk to tell them towels were needed. I didn’t even make it to the desk when the girls came out behind me and said forget it. They weren’t about to fight for space with a bunch of boys who obviously were not being watched very well.

They were ok with this decision since we would be at a waterpark tomorrow and also they did get in some swimming time already today.
Back to the room and we all just chilled out and watched TV and called it a night. I had brought some snacks and so did Haley and I think the girls decided it was junk food night as I found a lot of wrappers the next morning.

 

[dizneeat]

Great start to your trip, Jen.

And the girls are the same age? Your friend's girl looks a lot younger.
Sorry about the baseball families. But I can relate to what it means. We were at Coronado Springs one time when they had Cheerleaders (I think). Very noisy indeed as well.

Missing the food pics.

Can't wait for more.

Ups, I forgot. I must have missed that Skip went back to dairy farming. Hope it will not be too much of a strain to get back into it.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Checking in. I am sorry that the "retirement" only lasted such a short time. I hope that the new technology will make life easier.

The hotel looks lovely, but what a shame about the noisy boys.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

Day 2, April 18, 2015
I woke up earlier than everyone else…I always do.

I must say sleeping in that king bed was wonderful. We have a queen at home and I complain all the time we don’t have enough room but Skip will not budge on buying a king. In fact we bought a new mattress a few months back and he still wouldn’t make the switch. I let him know just how wonderful it was to sprawl out and not touch anyone or have anyone touch me. Pure bliss!

I showered and got ready for the day and got the girls up and ready as well.

We had debated on whether to prebook a tour time or just wing it. In the end we decided we would just wing it and arrive when we could and do the next tour.

After the girls were showered, we headed down to Be Our Guest for some breakfast. It was crazy in there. All the boys and their families were in there eating. Luckily they were finishing up and trickling out. Skip told me that last night he went out to smoke and several dads were sitting out there and were drunk and talking in what we call drunk talk. “I just have to be a good dad and be there for my kid”. We totally cracked up about that. Not that there is anything wrong with what they were saying, just that when guys get drunk they start pouring their hearts out to each other.

They had quite a selection, but I neglected to take pictures. I did get one of some of our food plates on my phone.

breakfast1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

It was all really good. They had waffles and 2 ladies were making them as you ordered them. It was a little slow going, but luckily we weren’t too far back in the lineup for those. Had I known how big they were I would’ve had the girls order just one to split instead of each their own. These babies were huge and really good. I am not a big waffle fan but I loved the one I had.

They also had that wonderful passion type punch like they have at Tusker House and a few other Disney restaurants. I had several glasses of it.

After we finished up, and I am proud to say both girls did eat quite a bit, we packed up the room and headed off to Stan Hywet. It actually was a bit further than I thought. When searching hotels this was listed as one of the closest but it also said it was only like a mile or 2 away. It was further than that for sure.

As we approached the area the houses got bigger, so I assume this is a bit of a nicer area to live. Back when the house was built, this area really didn’t have much.

There it is!

hywet1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Once the girls saw how big this house was their excitement went up a level. To be honest, they were only tolerating this stop and couldn’t wait for the waterpark.

We had been using Suri on my phone for directions and she told us we had arrived…but we couldn’t find the parking lot. She took us to the front drive….the drive that had been originally for the families use. We turned around and found we had to actually turn down another road to find the drive.

We drove in and found the lot and everyone working there was friendly and helpful.

stan1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

You go in through the Carriage House and that is where you buy your tickets.

stan2 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

There are also restrooms there and a gift shop and small café.
A map of the property…..it was huge!

stan3 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

We went in and inquired about tickets. For a self-guided tour it was something like $16 and for a guided tour it was something like $18. The prices might be off, but it was close to that. We also would receive a small discount…I think $1 per person for having a AAA membership. The kids were around $8 I think. Skip actually stood there and debated it. I glared at him a bit then smiled and said, it probably would be worth a few dollars to actually learn about everything we are seeing. LOL.
He agreed, but I was surprised he was even considering the self-guided tour to save $4.

They told us to head right up to the house as the first tour was going to start in about 15 minutes.

We walked through the Carriage House toward the exit to the grounds.

stan4 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

It was just beautiful here and my pictures are not showing it justice. I was “off” that day and kept having my camera settings on strange settings. (I really need to look it over before we head off to Alaska later this month).

I loved the flowering trees, but I kept over exposing many of my pictures.

stan5 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Oh and the weather….gorgeous! Even better than the day before. It actually got into the 80’s!

stan6 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

There weren’t too many people around the house at this point, so it looked like our tour would be small.

hywet2 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Haley had her phone with her and was taking pictures. Claire has an old iphone that used to be Paiges that she plays app on and she was taking pictures as well.

hywet3 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan7 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan8 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

This place was just beautiful.

stan9 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Skip was just chillin’ as we waited.

stan10 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Our tour guide came out and he said anyone doing a self-guided tour was allowed to go in now. I figured he did that so that they would be ahead of us a bit when we started our guided tour.

A few more people did arrive for our tour and we got started with our guide and he told us a bit about the property, the family and the house.

stan11 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

The ground breaking took place in early 1912 and the house was finished in Dec. of 1915. The house was actually built on an old quarry site. They had put a few feet of dirt on top of the quarry to have grass. Skip asked how the trees were able to grow there and we were told they had shallow roots and some still took off well while others got to a certain height and started to die or become unstable and they would replace them.

This house was mainly used in the winter months as the family had a summer place on a lake in Michigan where they would spend most of their summer time.

The name Stan Hywet was given to the house. They have always thought it was Old English for Stone Quarry, but they say now it may have actually meant something else….though he didn’t elaborate what.
The house was a Tudor Revival design. They really tried to make many things in that style throughout the house, though they of course had many modern things as well, but tried to disguise them when they could.

The house is 64,500 Square feet and more than 65 rooms, including 23 bathrooms and 23 fireplaces.

Our guide told us that normally Stan Hywet does not allow pictures in the house but in honor of their 100 year anniversary they now allowed non flash photos. I had actually emailed about this before we left and was told the same thing and was so happy we could take pictures both inside and out.

We then entered the foyer. This was inscribed over the archway in the foyer.

stan12 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

We learned that Mrs. Seiberling really ran the roost here. She was in charge of most of the house and she was very much for women’s rights. Her person in charge of the staff…was a woman. Pretty much unheard of at the time.

After being in the entrance hall we moved in and through the great hall (think big living room) and to the left toward the Reception room. We didn’t stop at the great hall now but would come back to it later.
This is the room you would wait in until a member of the family could greet you.

stan13 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan14 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan15 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

An interesting tidbit…..the house has all original furniture, though some has been refurbished over the years. Frank (F.A) Seiberling died in 1955 but he had willed his house to be donated as a museum basically. The house never sat in disrepair and they didn’t have to hunt down furniture for the time period. Most everything was left as is.
This is the Linenfold hallway, name for the intricate carvings in the oak panel walls which were cut to resemble folds of fabric. I am looking back towards the great hall.

stan16 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

See the windows up to the right…they had a name for them which I can’t remember now, but they go into the reception room and allow light from those windows to come into the hallway.
The light fixtures were made to look like candles, though the house had electricity.

stan18 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan19 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

And a peak at the library as we walked by.

stan20 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

The ceiling in the hallway.

stan21 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

 

[jenseib]

Great start to your trip, Jen.

And the girls are the same age? Your friend's girl looks a lot younger.
Sorry about the baseball families. But I can relate to what it means. We were at Coronado Springs one time when they had Cheerleaders (I think). Very noisy indeed as well.

Missing the food pics.

Can't wait for more.

Ups, I forgot. I must have missed that Skip went back to dairy farming. Hope it will not be too much of a strain to get back into it.

Yes they are...actually Haley is 2 months older than Claire....and much to Haley's excitement, Gracie was born on Haley's birthday. Claire is just really tall for her age and she is blossoming much faster than I like!

I swear, get a bunch of boys together and they just have no restraints. We stayed at a hotel the weekend after Thanksgiving last year and there was a boys hockey team staying and it was a lot of the same. Wild kids at the pool and parents just talking and drinking. If my kids acted that way i would be yelling.

Checking in. I am sorry that the "retirement" only lasted such a short time. I hope that the new technology will make life easier.

The hotel looks lovely, but what a shame about the noisy boys.

Corinna

I think this should be so much easier on them both. it is nice to see both in happier moods these days without all the extra stress they have had for years. But you can also tell they need more to do so this will give them just enough extra without being overwelming...I hope.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Breakfast looked lovely and the hall just looks amazing. It looks much older than it is. It is great that it was preserved as well as it was.

Corinna

 

[dizneeat]

What a great estate to visit. It must have been pretty impressive walking through.

Your hotel breakfast looks pretty good too.

 

[ilovedevin]

following

 

[canyoncam]

Looks like a nice little trip. It is fun to find places like that right in your backyard. I agree with you about NOT eating at McDonalds!!!! Looking forward to the rest of the mansion.

As far as Skip being back in the dairy business, some people only know one thing and even if it is stressful it is the thing they need to do. Hope it goes well.

 

[jedijill]

Great idea to see the mansion! I need to do more exploring in my area..I always want to take off and explore somewhere else but there is lots of stuff to do in my own backyard.

Jill in CO

 

[wiscbugs]

Even though its not Disney, I still love your reports! Looks like Claire has gotten braces since your last report....my 10 yr old son needs them too...ugh!!!

 

[jenseib]

Breakfast looked lovely and the hall just looks amazing. It looks much older than it is. It is great that it was preserved as well as it was.

Corinna

This building is just beautiful and well preserved. They are constantly updating/refurbishing things to make it last.

What a great estate to visit. It must have been pretty impressive walking through.

Your hotel breakfast looks pretty good too.

It was gorgeous!
It was a great breakfast too. We were happy and the girls are waffle freaks so they were happy.

following

Welcome Julie!!!

Looks like a nice little trip. It is fun to find places like that right in your backyard. I agree with you about NOT eating at McDonalds!!!! Looking forward to the rest of the mansion.

As far as Skip being back in the dairy business, some people only know one thing and even if it is stressful it is the thing they need to do. Hope it goes well.

I had no clue this place existed by my sister later told me that she actually went to a wedding there several years ago.
You are so right, it's what they know and I just knew after a few weeks of rest they would be twiddling their thumbs.

Great idea to see the mansion! I need to do more exploring in my area..I always want to take off and explore somewhere else but there is lots of stuff to do in my own backyard.

Jill in CO

I am planning to go to a cavern this week sometime. Ideally Thursday....but I may have to watch Gracie that day. Hopefully Paige can find someone else. It's been many years since I visited the Ohio Caverns and Claire never has. I think they are about 2 hours away, but I guess I should google the directions and hours. LOL.

Even though its not Disney, I still love your reports! Looks like Claire has gotten braces since your last report....my 10 yr old son needs them too...ugh!!!

Thanks!

Yes Claire got braces in Feb. We were just at the orthodontisit today too in fact! I wasn't sure if she was the right age or not but many kids we know have them. I love this ortho...he did mine when I was in my 30's. He looked Claire over and she has no baby teeth left and her 12 year old molars are coming in. Basically her mouth is one of a 12 year old. He said if she had baby teeth still he would wait, but since hers were all gone we started. Her top teeth have a lot more work to be done than the bottom. So we started with just top braces and about a month or so ago she got the bottoms put on too. She also has 2 adult teeth that have no come down yet, so they are making space for them and one is starting to come down, the other isn't yet...and if need be they will go in and open it up to pull it down. (I didn't tell her, but it sounds painful to me. LOL)

 

[jenseib]

As we moved down the hallway, our guide explained different things and how they were built or the meaning to them. The next room was the Solarium.

stan22 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan36 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

From there we went into the Round room which is the entrance to the Music room. It is round with some chairs around. It was neat as in the direct middle of the room the acoustics were so perfect that you could talk in a normal voice and it could be heard all around in the room. This is where the butler would introduce people and make announcements before taking them in the Music room.
We were invited to go to the middle of the room and talk and of course we all did and it was a thrill for the kids.

stan37 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan38 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

We then moved on the Music room.

hywet4 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

They would have shows here and different gatherings. It had a little stage and also a small balcony where musicians sometimes set up.

hywet5 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan39 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I forget the story on this….but someone made it.

stan40 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan41 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan42 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan43 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan44 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

This was a self-playing organ. The pipes were over near the stage on the other side of the room and they were loud.

stan45 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

He played some music and it sounded just like we were in the Haunted Mansion. As soon as we heard it Claire and I both looked at each other and said it at the same time.
Repeating this picture but you can see the vents on the walls here and that pipes were behind that.

stan39 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

The detailed chandelier.

stan46 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

The Music room is at the end of the hall (West wing) so we then started back towards the center of the home and went into the West Porch.

stan47 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan48 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

It was a beautiful room and was going under a little bit of refurbishment in parts. The area next to Skip in this next picture is where they were doing it. I think it was a door..or maybe a window, but it was boarded up currently while they were making repairs.

stan49 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

This was some kind of harp organ. He said it played terrible music but they had bought it for a decorative piece but never actually used it.

stan50 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Now I forget who this mural is of, but it was a woman…perhaps a saint? Anyways she would give power to people….I am sure I am not telling the story correctly at all…but she would look at the person she would see as the head of the house or with the power and in this one she is looking towards the woman. Again, Mrs. Seiberling was the head of the house and Mr. Seiberling was fine with that.

stan51 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan52 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Next to the Library.

stan53 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Many areas of the home had interactive things that you could read and touch. Stan Hywet had it’s own phone system here. There was no need to dial the operator and ask for an extension. They could go to the right extensions right from their own home.

To the left in this next picture you see a bit of an opening…that was a secret passageway…I think the bookcase slid across if I remember right. They did this because the house was supposed to be of old English style…but don’t get to excited, it was just about 2 or 3 steps worth of a passage and only went into the Great Hall.

stan54 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan55 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I believe that picture in the back to the left is one of the sons. The top of the lamp on that table was also being refurbished at the time of our visit.

stan56 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Now the brochure said they had 6 kids but they really only talked about 4 of them that I remember. They talked about the one in the painting, and 2 daughters and then the youngest son, Frank Jr….who was only around 6 when they moved in the house and was full of mischief and liked to play pranks on the staff. The 1 daughter was in her teens when they moved into the house. I think the other was in her 20’s.

stan57 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

stan58 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

In the hallway there was a little room the size of a small closet. That is where the phone was. It was polite to make your calls where no one could hear you…..how times have changed. I guess I didn’t take a picture of it.