Capital and Endowment Campaign for Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

Not For Us Alone

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens is one of the most important historic American Country estates in existence today. To maintain its place among the most revered historic homes in the world, Stan Hywet has undertaken a $10 million capital and endowment campaign titled An Icon of the American Spirit. The campaign will address the estate’s critical capital improvement projects described below. An Icon of the American Spirit will also raise $5 million for the endowment fund to help secure the long-term financial stability of Stan Hywet and ensure its programmatic relevance through the following named endowment funds:

• The President’s Fund, to ensure leadership and continued staffing excellence
• Garden Preservation Fund, to ensure quality in horticulture operations
• Manor House Preservation Fund, to ensure ongoing conservation, cleaning, repair and restoration
• Education Endowment Fund, to keep innovation at the center of education and public outreach
• Museum Curator Fund, to ensure curatorial staffing excellence
• Gate Lodge Endowment Fund, to ensure the care and maintenance of the Gate Lodge, where Alcoholics Anonymous was started in 1935
• English Garden Endowment Fund, to support the famed Walled English Garden.

The following capital restoration projects are critical to Stan Hywet’s future and require approximately $5 million in funding. Upon completion of the projects listed below, every major garden, significant landscape feature and original building at Stan Hywet will be fully restored. Stan Hywet is fortunate and grateful to have raised the money needed to complete the Plane Tree Allée, Chimneys, West Terrace and Japanese Garden restoration projects. We now need your help to complete the remaining restoration initiatives: the estate’s Outdoor Recreation Features that hold great potential for outdoor programming and activities for Stan Hywet’s visitors.


Plane Tree Allée

The Plane Tree Allée, fully restored for the first time in decades, brings vitality, color and recreational access to the southeast corner of Stan Hywet's property. The Plane Tree Allée, extending south from the Manor House, was in critical need of restoration due to the condition of the overgrown and diseased London Plane Trees that still remained from the original landscaping which was completed nearly 100 years ago. While the Birch Tree Allée to the north and the West Terrace Overlook to the west frame spectacular views of the surrounding landscape and emphasize the extraordinary interplay between the Manor House’s interior and exterior spaces, the Plane Tree Allée had suffered over the years, deteriorating far from landscape architect Warren Manning’s original plans.

We are proud to have completed the project, including excavation, utilities and irrigation work that will allow Stan Hywet’s horticulture staff to maintain properly the newly planted stand of Plane Trees for decades. We have finished the allée’s landscaping, including the restoration of a magnificent “understory” of hostas, azaleas and rhododendrons that will bring the space to life with the vibrant color that inspired Gertrude Seiberling to create a painting of the allée circa 1936. It will take about five years of growth for the newly restored Plane Tree Allée to resemble the historic landscape. The newly-restored allée opens up the southeast corner of the property, transforming it into usable recreational space that children and families will explore throughout the season.


Chimneys

Stan Hywet's memorable silhouette is capped by 12 unique chimneys that crown the Manor House. However, weather and time have deteriorated the chimneys to the point of near-collapse. Stan Hywet was awarded a prestigious Save America’s Treasures grant in the amount of $250,000 to repair and restore of the Manor House chimneys and preserve them as key elements of Stan Hywet’s architecture. The Save America's Treasures grant required a dollar-for-dollar non-Federal match, satisfied thanks to the generosity of The Reinberger Foundation and individual donors and visitors to Stan Hywet.

Outdoor Recreation Features

Recreation and sports were a large part of Stan Hywet's history. The Seiberling Family used the estate for many outdoor and fitness activities, and Stan Hywet is dedicated to restoring parts of the landscape to their original recreational purposes for use by the community. However, we need your help to bring these outdoor recreation opportunities back to Stan Hywet. Please help us restore the Twin Tea Houses, Lagoon, Family Tennis Court and Lagoon Path System by making a donation today.

Stan Hywet will restore the following outdoor recreation features: (1) The Twin Tea Houses are important structural anchors at the end of Stan Hywet's Birch Tree Allée that frame another beautiful vista point. They offer dramatic views of the Lagoon, and include changing rooms that the Seiberlings used when they swam in the Lagoons. The Tea Houses' dual stone staircases will be cleaned, repaired and restored using original materials. Additionally, the shade garden adorning the staircase walls will be replanted according to landscape architect Warren Manning's original specifications. (2) The Lagoon was a popular spot for swimming, diving and boating. After the Lagoon is drained and repaired, recreational features such as the diving board and boat dock will be reintroduced based on archival family photographs. (3) The Family Tennis Court (Akron's only clay court) will be restored and reopened for use by Stan Hywet members and for special tournaments. (4) The Lagoon Path System, consisting of winding garden paths, will be completely restored so that visitors can enjoy the estate's natural beauty. Fitness walkers will be welcome to use the paths as an extension of the nearby Sand Run Metropark and Cuyahoga Valley National Park Towpath Trail.

To donate for the Outdoor Recreation Features, please click here.