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The Architects of Mariemont: An Introduction By Matt Ayer What comes to mind when Cincinnatians think of “Mariemont?” A quiet, idyllic, safe, well-to-do suburb east of Cincinnati. Tree-lined streets. A planned community. A village square, the Inn, theater, parks, the Bell Tower. Walkability. Perhaps the four sets of recently-constructed luxury condominiums. Traditional homes, many with massive additions that dwarf their small lots. Stroller moms and high-tech school buildings. To some, perhaps elitism and white privilege. What may not come to mind is a community planned primarily for the factory worker escaping the tenements of the inner city. In 1924, Cincinnati was the third most congested city in the U.S., with some 28,000 families living in tenements. Only 10% of homes built since WWI were for the wage earner. Even before the War, there was no inducement to build housing for the wage earner, as there was “no money in it” for the profiteer. That same year, Charles Livingood articulated Mary Emery’s vision for our Village in a paper delivered to the Literary Club of Cincinnati. He explained that “Mariemont is intended primarily as a place of residence. Its projectors believe that wage earners, for whom it is principally intended, would prefer not to live ‘under the shadow of the factory’ so long as they are not too far from their work. Trolleys, the motor bus, and private automobiles will enable the factory hand to reach Norwood and Oakley in a very few minutes.” At the time, Cincinnati was a hub of industry, from its famous soap-making
Mariemont Memorial Church, the first building started in the Dale Park District. Image courtesy of Marc Wavra Ivorydale complex, to the machine tool capital of the world; the center of valve manufacturing, meat-processing and other food plants; fine pottery and wrought iron; playing cards; railroad yards; foundries; inks and dyes; pianos; and Emery’s own plant, which produced candles and other products from tallow; and many others. “It is believed, too, that many workers in the city, railroad and postal employees, clerks, stenographers, especially women who are supporting families, will be willing to journey to Mariemont for the better air and happier environment of the country.” The Mariemont Company also provided the infrastructure for two industrial areas (Mariemont South and Westover) to add more employment for its resident wage earners. Rapid train service was envisioned at low, monthly ticket rates to
benefit those working downtown. Livingood contrasted the project to failures of government-sponsored housing projects. He noted that the town was not an “experiment” but rather an application of proven town planning principles of the “garden city movement” to American methods. Mariemont was “not to be a laboratory for sociological experiments in the problem of housing.” Our founders recognized Americans as individualistic, with a right to own property. Unlike other planned communities of its time, Mariemont was neither an “industrial village” nor a “company” enterprise. “Mary Emery is simply showing in Cont'd on page 5