EASTERN HILLS JOURNAL Your Community Press newspaper serving Columbia Tusculum, Hyde Park, Mariemont, Mount Lookout, Oakley and other Northeast Cincinnati neighborhoods
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2018 ❚ BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS ❚ PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
The Ferris houses:
Treasures in Mariemont and Fairfax Laura A. Hobson
Special to Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
Local history of early settlers goes back further than one might think. The early history of Mariemont and nearby Fairfax originated in 1788 and would not be complete without mentioning the Ferris and Stites families. Major Benjamin Stites and his brothers first purchased land here and called the settlement Columbia. Stites convinced Judge John Cleves Symmes, a Revolutionary War veteran, to buy 311,682 acres that became the Northwest Territory, Miami Purchase, which included the present-day Mariemont and Fairfax. In 1799, three brothers – Joseph (1776-1831), Eliphalet (1774-1859) and Andrew Ferris (1779-1849) – moved here from Greenwich, Connecticut. They bought 480 acres of land in the Miami Purchase tract from Symmes. All the brothers became farmers and millers who prospered. Their pioneer cemetery is located next to Mariemont Community Church where several Ferris gravestones are located. Other evidence of these early residents exists in several brick houses. The Joseph Ferris house is located at 5729 Dragon Way in Fairfax, one mile from Mariemont. Joe Stoner, president, Mariemont Preservation Foundation, wrote a paper about the history of the Joseph Ferris house in October 2011 and published it in the Mariemont Town Crier. Construction of the Joseph Ferris house started in 1807 with bricks carried by a barge via the Little Miami. The Ferris house has served as a residence, a restaurant, office space, a flower shop and a scuba shop. It initially sat on 700 acres with a view of the Little Miami River valley. The first phase of the house was completed in 1820, according to Stoner. Retired architectural historian Walter Langsam said the large, three-story red brick mansion with four Ionic columns was built in a combination of Federal and Greek Revival styles. “It had remarkable Federal style stencils throughout the upper walls above the chair rails. The Federal side has Flemish-bond brickwork,” Langsam said. “The Greek Revival section is simple, monumental and bold.” The Ferris house was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975. In 1997, Douglas Eisele purchased the house, which became the Eisele Gallery of Fine Art and Old World Restorations Inc., now on just one acre. “The elegant house complements many 19th-century artworks for sale in my gallery,” he said. The Eliphalet Ferris house is located on 3915 Plainville Road, close to the office of Mariemont Preservation Foundation. Begun in 1802, it is on the National Register of Places (1975). One of the oldest houses in Columbia Township, it is a Georgian Colonial farmhouse later enlarged to three stories with interior end chimneys. The house was used as a residence until 1923 when it became the construction headquarters for the newly planned
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An artist's rendering of Hubbard Radio Cincinnati's proposed new headquarters. PROVIDED
Hubbard Radio wants to build new station in Oakley Randy Tucker Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
The Eliphalet Ferris House began in 1802. It is now the office of Educational Services Institute. LAURA A. HOBSON/FOR THE COMMUNITY PRESS
Starting in 1807, the house of Joseph Ferris is now the location of Eisele Gallery of Fine Art. It was built in a combination of Federal and Greek Revival styles. PROVIDED/DOUG EISELE,
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EISELE GALLERY OF FINE ART
community of Mariemont, begun by Mary Emery. Later, it housed several offices including a builder, physician and an antique shop. A longtime renter, Dr. Ann Grooms, president, Educational Services Institute, purchased the building in the fall of 1982, and uses it for her business. Other Ferris houses are located throughout the eastern portion of Cincinnati.
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The gravestone of Andrew Ferris (1779-1849) is located in a cemetery next to Mariemont Community Church. Ferris was one of the three Ferris brothers who moved to what is now known as Mariemont and Fairfax. PROVIDED/JANET SETCHELL, MARIEMONT PRESERVATION FOUNDATION
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Hubbard Radio Cincinnati, a subsidiary of the Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. radio and TV conglomerate, is planning to build a new headquarters building in Oakley. Hubbard has offered to buy three vacant parcels owned by the City of Cincinnati near the corner of Madison Road and Kennedy Avenue, where it would build a new 30,000-square-foot office building and broadcast facility, according to city planning documents. Hubbard Radio Cincinnati provides programming for country station WUBE-FM (105.1), and 80s-and-90s throwback station WREW-FM (94.9), among others. Its parent company is based in St. Paul, Minn. The City Planning Commission will vote on the proposed sale of the city owned property - valued at about $522,000 in 2017- at its next meeting Dec. 7. The new office building and radio station would replace Hubbard's Walnut Hills headquarters at 2060 Reading Road. Hubbard has promised to retain 142 jobs when it moves to the new facility, and hire an additional 37 workers. Hubbard would bring about $14.2 million in annual payroll to Oakley as a result of its relocation, according to its proposal.
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