The City of Cleveland Heights

THE SEVERANCE FAMILY ESTATES NEAR MAYFIELD AND TAYLOR

In the 1880s, Elizabeth Severance
Allen and her cousin, Julia Severance
Millikin, established small farms
along Mayfield Road near Taylor Road.

In recent years, we've become accustomed to new construction in the area surrounding Mayfield and Taylor Roads: a reinvented Severance Town Center, new residential development at the Courtyards of Severance, the planned redevelopment of the Jewish Community Center site into new housing (BlueStone), and other exciting projects. With all this new activity, it is hard to imagine what this area was like in the early part of the 20th century, when Cleveland Heights was just developing as a suburb.

Ben Brae and Glen Allen

Glen Allen was built in 1915
by Elizabeth Severance Allen.

* Picture from Western
Reserve Historical Society *

In the late 1880s, Elizabeth Severance Allen and her cousin, Julia Severance Millikin, established small farms as summer homes along Mayfield Road near Taylor - getaways from their permanent homes on then fashionable Euclid Avenue. In the 1910s, Allen and Millikin replaced their farmhouses with permanent estates. Elizabeth's brother, John Long Severance, established a residence here on his father's land in 1911.

Ben Brae was built on the northeast corner
of Mayfield and Taylor Roads in 1913.

* Picture from Western
Reserve Historical Society *

Dr. Benjamin Millikin and Julia Severance Millikin's estate, 'Ben Brae,' the smallest of the three properties, was built on the northeast corner of Mayfield and Taylor Roads in 1913, and includes the land that now houses Fire Station #1 and Council Gardens. Of the three estates, Ben Brae was the least formal, designed in the English Tudor style. Constructed of brick, stone and stucco, the two-story, half-timbered house was nestled into grounds reminiscent of an English country garden. The house was demolished in 1953 after their deaths.

'Glen Allen' was constructed in 1915 by Elizabeth Severance Allen, who had been recently widowed. Designed by Charles Schweinfurth, this house also showcased the English manor style of architecture. Much like her brother's Longwood, this sprawling manor house was primarily brick with stone detailing and a combination of gabled and flat roofs. An ornate metal and glass awning made for an imposing entry to this home surrounded by extensive formal gardens. In 1917, Elizabeth married Francis Fleury Prentiss. The house was demolished not long after her death in 1944. Glen Allen was located on the land currently occupied by Lutheran High School East (built in 1957) and the Jewish Community Center (built in 1960).

Longwood

John Long Severance's 125-acre
Longwood estate is currently home
to Severance Town Center.

* Picture from Western
Reserve Historical Society *

John Long Severance's 125-acre 'Longwood' estate is currently home to Severance Town Center. Near the turn of the century, Louis Henry Severance purchased this property, but never lived there. In 1911, his son, John, built an English Tudor mansion designed by leading architect J. Milton Dyer. John Severance had been involved with John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, but is most remembered for his philanthropy, donating $2.5 million for Severance Hall's construction in memory of his wife, who died in 1929.

A garden side view of Longwood.

Upon his father's death in 1913, John Long Severance inherited the property and in 1915 had the estate's interiors extensively remodeled and additions designed by the Cleveland architect Charles Schweinfurth, who also designed the still extant stables. The brick English Tudor manor house combined flat parapet roofs with gabled slate roofs, all punctuated by multiple grouped windows to take advantage of the new of surrounding grounds and formal gardens. This home was embellished with elaborate chimneys, refined stone carving around windows, doors, gables and in the parapets, and castellated stone detailing that mimicked the pattern typically associated with castles. The manor house included a drawing room, library and a great hall with a pipe organ. Upon Severance's death in 1936, the estate was inherited by Severance Millikin, son of Benjamin and Julia Millikin. After long battles between residents and the city over the redevelopment of this property, the mansion was demolished in 1961 to make way for a new mall, Severance Center, surrounded by office and apartments.

What remains of these grand estates today?
To recall the days of Longwood, look to the relocated marble fountain in front of City Hall. The fountain was located along the entry drive and was one of many sculptures that Severance used to adorn his estate. From the parking lot of the Severance Medical Building along Severance Circle, one can see the imposing brick stables, formerly part of the Severance estate. Two landscape remnants of the estate have survived: the allee of trees that lined the entry to the estate that can be seen behind the Severance Athletic Club, looking south from Taylor Road; and a pond on City property directly east of Courtyards of Severance at the northeast corner of the former estate.

Crossing Mayfield searching for remnants of Glen Allen and Ben Brae yields the stone wall in front of the JCC and the stone pier at the southeast corner of the Lutheran High School East property. Glen Allen remnants include: an old farmhouse at 3555 Birch Tree Path that the Allens incorporated into their property (and may have been used for hired help); a bridge from the estate hidden in the rear yard of a Glen Allen home; and possibly a low stone wall behind the homes on the south side of the streets near the intersection of Woodridge and Edison Roads.

For more information on the subject, read Cleveland Heights: The Making of an Urban Suburb by Marian J. Morton, and In Our Day; Cleveland Heights: Its People, Its Places, Its Past edited by Suzanna Ringler Jones. For more information about our community history, visit these websites: http://chuh.net/chhistory and http://ech.cwru.edu.