Only thirteen years after Mentor, Ohio was officially established, the Gothic Revival style Read (Reed) House, as it’s known today, was constructed. The home was built between 1867-1868 as a home for early Mentor resident H.C. King. The land on which the home was built originally belonged to a 55-acre parcel owned by Elias Randall during the early 1840s. In 1845 Randall sold the land off to Orrin Loomis. Twelve years later in 1857, it was inherited by his son, Oscar Loomis. Orrin died in 1865 in Bloomington, McLean, Illinois at the age of 74. After his father’s death, Oscar sold off most of the land, but kept 10.16 acres then valued at $325. He then would sell the land to H.C. King.

The home King built was originally just the center core, first and second floors and a full basement. Other wings and a porch were added on in later years. King would occupy the home for 32 years before selling the property to Laura C. Harris in 1900. In 1912, George N. Dow would purchase the property. Upon purchasing the property, Dow brought a series of rhododendrons over by clipper ship from England to place at the front of the house. George would live in the home with his family until 1928, when he would pass it down to his daughter, Mrs. Alice Harshaw.

In 1940, the property was sold by Mrs. Harshaw to Hoyt P. Downing, but it wouldn’t be until 1942 when she would sell 2.5 acres at the front of the property, which included the home, to J. Richard Reed, bringing one of the most important names connected to the home’s history into the picture. Reed would live in this home with his wife Catherine M. Reed for years. Here they would raise their four sons, Robert, James, John and Douglas. In later years, Catherine would divide the lot to build a home to the east for one of their sons. 

During these years, the property had operated as a farm, with a barn in the back large enough to contain 4 horses, a cow and some chickens. At the rear of the barn was an ice house, which during earlier years, prior to the invention of the refrigerator, was used to store ice throughout the year using sawdust and grass as a type of insulation. Residents would often visit Newell’s Pond (Mentor Recreation Park) to cut their ice.

During the years when the interurban trolley line still ran through the village and apple trees lined Mentor Avenue, the home was complimented by a 300-foot wrought iron fence, which stretched across the front yard. At the end of the driveway were stone posts where there was an opening in the fence. The trolly would make stops directly across the street from the home’s front yard.

Two doors on the home, including their hardware, remained entirely original until its final days.

Before the village had water in 1940, the family used a well at the back of the property, which was housed within a building at the home’s rear. For years water was supplied by gravity to the house and barn, but later a pressure tank and pump were added. However, once the village had a way of running water to homes, these were no longer needed, and rarely used. The kitchen at the back of the home was used during the summer months for canning, washing and more, and it has even been said that wine was made in the home’s basement. Just outside the back door of the kitchen, there was a dug well with a hand-pump and crank, which was used to manually raise water in buckets to bring into the kitchen as needed. I’m sure they were happy when they no longer needed to do that.

Over years, the home underwent many changes, including fixes, additions, deconstruction and more. Heating was eventually changed from the original hot air to hot water, which utilized large cast iron radiators on only the first floor of the home. In order for the upper floors to also be heated, vents were placed to be opened or closed in rooms on the upper floors. This allowed heat to travel upwards and warm the rooms. 

In 1968, Mrs. Catherine Reed applied to designate the home as a Lake County Heritage Home, and it was granted membership as Lake County Heritage Home #61. Catherine remained married to J. Richard Reed for 59 years until his passing in 1994. The Mentor Public Library purchased the property from Catherine M. Reed in May, 2009. Only three years later, Mrs. Reed would pass away on January 14, 2012 at the age of 97, surely leaving her mark in the history of Mentor, Ohio.

After purchasing the property, the Mentor Public Library had planned to utilize it as a space for the community, offering services for patrons, including outdoor activities and educational programs. They kept a spacious yard to provide an area of green space for the community. While the home had a short-lived life as a community space, I feel it could have gone further if more people would have shown interest. Unfortunately, not enough people took part in programs, and deterioration to the home had truly started to become an issue. Without enough funding, or ability to do the work needed on the home, it continued to worsen over the years. People often don’t want to show appreciation for things until it’s too late, and it’s unfortunate.

On May 10, 2021, the Read (Reed) House was demolished, but will remain in stories and memories hopefully for years and years to come.

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