My first journey to the House of Wills could probably be noted as one of the strangest, and perhaps scariest moments I have had while exploring abandoned places. It was the summer of 2012, and as usual my friends and I had been wandering E 55^th in Cleveland, Ohio in search of abandoned structures. Night had fallen, and we had reached the House of Wills – a location that we had planned out the night before. First of all, wandering this area at night is something that should not have been planned in the first place, but when you’re feeling stupid and reckless, it surely seems fitting. We had believed the House of Wills to be entirely abandoned, but would soon learn that this was not the case.

Behind the building, we had found a basement window where we were able to sneak a look inside. Shining our flashlights in, we could see what had appeared to be old coffin building tables. It was at that moment that we were all 100% set on making our way inside. We took turns dropping into the basement through the open window. Once inside, we wandered into the halls to find stairs, and made our way to the next floor up. We turned corner after corner through dark hallways, and were soon greeted by one of the most interesting and beautiful auditoriums I had ever set foot in at the time. I was instantly amazed by the stunning architecture left behind within the house. The room wrapped around with beautiful Greco Roman style architecture, most notably within the auditorium.

We spent our time wandering for the next few hours, finding some of the most interesting things we had ever found within a building. When we entered what is known as the Egyptian Room, we were greeted by macabre art works; incredibly vivid, morbid displays, including bodies cut in half, among other various pieces. We wondered as to why, or even how someone had placed these inside of an abandoned funeral home. We ventured back into the hallways, eventually leading us to a room where we had noticed a running gas-powered generator with a wire leading out into the halls. Being stupidly curious, we decided it would be a wonderful idea to follow the wire to see where it would take us, thinking it may be interesting. What we should have probably thought is that it would be a perfect time to go directly back to where we came from…but where’s the sense of adventure in that?

Don’t do that, by the way.

Following the cable brought us to an upstairs room, at one of the highest points in the house, where strangely enough, we could see a light on behind a closed door, illuminating the edges where it shone through. Us being the curious group we were, we discussed what we imagined could lie past that closed door. The sculptures we had found, among the numerous other art pieces scattered throughout an abandoned funeral home in Cleveland…at night. Again, you’d think that this would be the best time to finally turn around and call it a night. Not us. No, we collectively decided that we should try to open this door, thinking nothing of it. I mean, nobody could be in there this late at night, right? Wrong. Very wrong.

My friend decided to move in and grab the door handle, attempting to open it and see what was inside. We were surprised when we found that the door was locked. This could only mean that someone was on the other side. Now a bit more shaken, we decided to turn around and make our way towards the exit. However, before we could all turn around to leave, the door knob began to turn from the other side. Collectively, we rushed to grab the door handle to hold it shut. My friend was closest, so ended up being the one to reach it first. He held the door shut tightly as the person attempted to open it from the other side. The only thing that could come to mind between us all is “what do we do now?” The only thing to do was to quickly let go of the doorknob, do a 180 and get the hell out of there.

Immediately upon letting go of the doorknob, we were greeted by a man holding a gun. Obviously even more shaken now than just a moment before, we walked quickly towards our exit rather than running as to not fall in the dark. We had only flashlights, and I think we collectively felt it would be better to walk quickly, than run and trip over something. The man was just following behind us saying “wait up.” Well, when you’re in a less than great area of Cleveland at night, in what you thought to be an abandoned building, you don’t turn around, you do not make conversation, you do not take the chance in any way. The only conversation mumbled between us all was “sorry, we’re leaving, we were just taking pictures” over and over again. Eventually, the man caught up to us in the dark and kept saying “it’s okay you guys, it’s fine I understand art, I understand your interest.” By the time we had reached the basement, we had to make a climb back up to the window where we had entered. We knew we wouldn’t be able to handle this part of the exit smoothly enough, and were pretty much fearing for our lives at this point more than before. We were now face to face with a man we thought would surely not be letting us go anywhere further.

Turns out we were wrong. This is an incredibly rare exception, and you should still never put yourself in a situation like this. However, things ended up turning out as good as they could possibly go. What a strange, strange situation. He introduced us to the man who had recently as of that year taken ownership of the building.

Fast forward years later, and the owner and I remain good friends.

Eric Freeman – owner of the House of Wills – procured the house in 2010. Cleveland wanted to tear the structure down, but Eric, who is a lover of the home’s history, did not want to see that happen. When he had initially set foot inside, upon seeing the architecture that had been left to rot, he knew immediately that he wanted to take ownership, and begin breathing life back into the structure. The home had sat for years as a victim of scrappers and vandals, though thankfully through all that it has endured, most of the architectural elements have been left alone. Eric recently moved in, in order to protect the home and continue work on bringing the structure back to life.

The House of Wills was built between 1900-1905 by Cleveland architect Frederick W. Striebinger. When the structure was built, it was initially used as a German social club, known as the Gesangverein Hall. Over the following years, there were many additions to the building, and it would switch hands of ownership numerous times. The structure would come to house the Cleveland Hebrew Institute, and some say the house had also served as a hospital for Hungarian immigrants, and even as a speakeasy during prohibition.

In the 1940s, a man came along who saw its potential, deciding to convert it to a funeral home; this man was John Walter Wills. Wills was born June 3^rd, 1874, and traveled to Cleveland in 1899. Wills quickly became one of Cleveland’s most prominent black entrepreneurs of the time period. He ran several funeral homes with a partner – William W. Gee – then under the name Gee & Wills Funeral Co. However, by 1907, that partnership had dissolved, and Wills had formed the J.W. Wills & Sons Co. Years later, in 1942, Wills took ownership of the house, converting the 34-room manor into his second funeral home business. The House of Wills would go on to become the state’s largest black-owned funeral business. It would also go on to become an organizational headquarters for the civil rights movement, which Mr. Wills stood strongly behind.

Mr. Wills was also known for founding the local branch of the NAACP, and helping to organize the city’s first black business organization.

Mr. Wills died in his upstairs bedroom in the home on April 23, 1971. He is now buried in the Lakeview Cemetery.

To this day, Eric continues to work towards bringing the home back to life.

Historic photos:

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