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Historical home
By REBECCA S. NIEMINEN
KINSMAN
The Swift-Kinsman house endures as one of Trumbull County’s shining jewels of early Western Reserve architecture. Recently the home was recognized for its architectural beauty and historical prominence when it was added to the National Register of Historic Sites.
“It’s a wonderful recognition,” said Richard Webb, who owns the home along with his wife, Susan Webb.
He said that Rebecca Rogers, an architectural historian from Poland, secured the nomination.
Both historical and architectural significance are considered during the process.
The National Register of Historic Sites is the federal government’s official list of districts, sites, buildings and structures deemed worthy of preservation.
The Swift-Kinsman house has been recognized as a significant component of a surviving 19th-century rural Western Reserve village.
The Webbs have lived in the home since 1973 but recently offered it for sale.
“Our son lives in the Pittsburgh area, and we plan to relocate to be closer to him,” Susan explained.
Completed in 1828 for Olive Kinsman Swift, a daughter of town founder John Kinsman, the 3,480-square-foot-home is located on State Street in Kinsman and sits on 27.5 acres.
The Webbs have lovingly and meticulously restored the home during their years of residence, transforming it into an early American showplace. Brass chandeliers, stenciled walls, gleaming hardwood floors and fine antiques grace the spacious rooms. The home’s first floor boasts nine-foot ceilings, and a central hall connects the two front parlors.
Well-known Western Reserve architect Willis Smith designed the home and incorporated many graceful aspects of Federal architecture into the details, including a front door with sidelights and a fan window and ornately carved woodwork on the fireplace mantels and around the home’s 12 windows.
“Willis Smith designed many of Kinsman’s notable historical buildings, including the Dr. Peter Allen House and the Presbyterian Church, but our home’s north and south side wings are an unusual architectural feature since none of the other homes Smith designed have two side wings,” Richard said.
The Swift-Kinsman home’s elegance and its intriguing history made it an ideal candidate for the National Register of Historic Places, the Webbs said.
When Olive Kinsman and her attorney husband, George Swift, moved into the home in 1828, they had been married for seven years and had a family of small children. After Olive’s death in 1835 and George’s death in 1845, the home passed to George Bishop and then to George Brakin. Around 1905, Sen. Thomas Kinsman, a nephew of Olive, purchased the property.
“It was Thomas Kinsman’s previous ownership of the home that really helped us secure a spot on the National Register,” Richard said.
“Thomas Kinsman was both a representative and senator of Ohio, so he was an influential person and important historically. He made this home his retirement venue where he frequently entertained large groups.”
The senator lived in the home from about 1905 until 1927 and completed extensive renovations after acquiring the property.
He added large pocket doors on both parlors and installed leaded glass windows to create a prismatic reflection of rainbow colors on the polished oak floors. To create storage space, he added built-in linen and china closets, as well as bedroom closets.
“He also added a solarium off of one parlor and changed the home’s staircase,” Susan said.
The senator introduced indoor plumbing and also added outbuildings, including a small barn, a turkey house and a tile block icehouse, where he stored ice from his pond to use when serving pink lemonade and ice cream during garden parties. Eventually the senator renovated the turkey house into a cottage for his cook and gardener.
The Webbs have graciously remodeled the cottage into a charming guest house with a gothic-style ceiling.
The Swift-Kinsman house has also been known as the Hickory Tree Inn. This name originates from the 1920s when Sen. Kinsman sold the house to Caroline Cookston, who converted it to a restaurant and rented rooms to boarders during the Great Depression.
“This house has a fascinating history,” said Susan. “If only the walls could talk.”
The Webbs said potential buyers who are concerned they won’t be able to make alterations to the home due to its status on the National Register of Historic Sites shouldn’t worry too much.
“Homeowners are free to make changes to the interior of the home; it is mainly the exterior facade that must remain the same,” Susan said.
Potential buyers should also know the 27.5-acre property is part of the Western Reserve Land Conservatory so the acreage will remain intact and never be subdivided.
The acreage offers fields of clover and hay, a pond, woods, a barn and hiking trails that are part of the rails to trails embankment of Clinton Airway, a railroad line that went bankrupt but was slated to connect Hudson, Ohio, with Olean, N.Y.
Lakeside Realty is listing the property.