Day Six- Akron zero

0 miles-Today was a “zero miles walked on the trail” day. Instead I spent much of the day touring the Seiberling Estate about a mile and a half from here. You may recall that Frank Seiberling, along with his brother, were the founders of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. By 1912 their tire making innovations for the new automobiles as well as the Aeronautic Divisions contracts with the military were making the Seiberlings quite wealthy. Frank and his wife Gertrude, along with their six children, set about to have a country home built. They chose the ever popular Tudor Revival style. And what a home it was!

At 64,500 square feet, with 18 bedrooms, 23 bathrooms and an equal number of fireplaces, along with 3 elevators, and roughly 20-30 staff, it was extravagant. It was occupied in 1915, but took another two years to finish. And for all of its old world style it was cutting edge.

The house was completely electrified, had tankless flush toilets, electric refrigerators, a wood, charcoal, and gas stove, telephones throughout the house with two different phone companies lines servicing the house. And a swimming pool and gym, of course. The house was constructed with concrete and steel like an office building and then faced with brick and wood. A pretty amazing building.

Gertrude was an aspiring opera singer so there was a 2,700 square foot Music Room. This is more square footage than my two story house. The dining room could seat 56. There were 5 family bedrooms for the couple and their 6 children and 5 more guest bedrooms. The remain bedrooms were for staff. Interestingly, all the children had to share bathrooms with siblings, whereas guest rooms all had private bathrooms.

By all accounts, the Seiberlings were pretty down to earth people. They lived in the house, dubbed “Stan Hywet” which was an Old English term for a rock quarry, for 40 years. And over the years the home was a gathering place and refuge for their children and relatives. Unlike many of the wealth of the time, who only lived two months out of the year at their mansions, this was truly the Seiberlings home.

Frank Seiberling was apparently also a generous man. He paid his staff top wages for the day and provided room and board. For those that lived in town, transportation was provided to and from the estate. His money went into building homes for the workers in a his factory. And after WWI ended and Goodyear was suddenly facing bankruptcy, he and his brother went for a restructuring deal that kept Goodyear afloat and let the workers keep their job even though it meant they lost a significant amount of money and their jobs.

The brothers went on to found a new rubber company, Seiberling Rubber, and although profitable, it was never as successful as Goodyear.

As a footnote, Frank and Gertrude’s oldest daughter, Irene, lived on the grounds of the estate until 1999. She was just shy of 109 years old.

Back on trail tomorrow. Until then, Happy Trails!