Ohio Open Doors: Kent, OH Historic Homes Tour

Historic Homes Tour

Beginning at 2 pm, our Historic Homes Tour will provide an inside look at three iconic West Main Street homes including Lilac Gardens, lovingly restored in recent years; the Masonic Temple, Marvin Kent’s spectacular home built from 1880 to 1884 and maintained in pristine condition since 1922 by the Masons; and the Patton House, donated by Emma Patton to Kent Coterie, the historic social and literary organization founded in Kent in 1896, taking its name from the term for a "circle of friends.” It is a long-standing women's group with ties to the city's history. Please note, there are three ticket types available for this event. We will have one group start at each of the three homes, then rotate until all three groups have toured all three. Your ticket will indicate where you will start the tour.

Masonic Temple (Marvin Kent Home)

Construction began in 1880 on the Eastlake-style homestead of Marvin and Maria Kent. Marvin is our town’s namesake. Much of the materials used in the house were likely locally sourced since, among Kent’s many businesses, were a stone quarry and a plate glass factory. Completed in 1884, the home provided 7,335 square feet of living space with 20 rooms, including a ballroom and 10 fireplaces. During the 40 years the Kent family lived in the home, four U.S. presidents, either before or after they were in office, were quests in the home. When Warren G. Harding, William Howard Taft, William McKinley and Benjamin Harrison visited, they slept in the southeast second- floor bedroom. When Marvin’s son William died in 1923 the home was sold to Rockton Lodge 316 F & A. M.

Wolcott Lilac Gardens

The house was built in 1863 by Simon Perkins Wolcott. The architectural style is Western Reserve Gothic Revival. In 1909, Daisy and Duncan Wolcott moved into the house and started a family. In 1918, the house was doubled in size. The library wing with a bedroom and main bath on the second floor was added to the west side of the home. At the rear of the house, the old veranda which connected the dining room to the cooking shack was enclosed and became the kitchen. A second floor was added above the dining room with a master bedroom above the new kitchen. The old cooking shack became a garage. In 1985, the cooking shack/garage was removed and a family room was added, plus a breezeway and two plus car garage were added. Above the family room will become the master bathroom, in the future.

There isn’t any known history of the gardens before the 1900s, but Daisy and Duncan were avid gardeners. In 1918, the property was enlarged to the east and south. In 1920, the Lilac Gardens were borne with the gift of 100 lilacs arriving on a flatbed truck from Daisy’s uncle Col. William Plum (Lilacia Park, Lombard, Illinois). In the 1930s, Daisy opened her gardens to the public, after the sudden death of her husband. The initial charge was 10 cents but later increased to twenty-five cents. It was on an honor system, with a plate for the coins on a table in the garden. She advertised the gardens in many newspapers, and it is believed that people from all fifty states and several foreign countries visited her gardens. The gardens were one of the finest home gardens in Ohio. It consisted of rambling paths with many spring bulbs, violets, roses, garden phlox, and peonies, plus flowering trees. Later, in the upper garden, fruit trees were placed in perennial flower beds.

Patton House

Once known as the Patton Memorial House, the family residence of W. W. Patton, his wife, Harriet, and daughter, Emma, was built in 1902. Among many community positions, Patton served as Kent’s postmaster and superintendent of Kent Schools (1872-1878). After Emma’s death in 1939 the house was bequeathed to the Coterie, a ladies organization founded in 1896. This “circle of friends,” which formed from the merger of a literary club and a cooking club, was chosen to maintain the property and provide space for community groups to gather. Women of prominent Kent families who were active members of Coterie in its early years include Mrs. Harry Longcoy, Mrs. Edward Parsons, Mrs. Duncan Wolcott, Mrs. W.S. Kent, Mrs. Frank Elgin, Mrs. Roy Smith and Mrs. Burt Spelman. The home continues in the care of the 125 members of the five Kent Coteries who strive to maintain this historic dwelling, which stand, regally, at the west entrance to downtown Kent.