Howard Mansion
by Kate Quinn
If you have ever stood at Medical Park in Wheeling and looked
across the interstate to the hills, you might have noticed a unique
mansion and wondered about it.
The hill on which the mansion stands is called Howard Place and
was first purchased by the grandparents of Harry McClure, Sr. who
built the McLure Hotel. Later, quite a bit of Pleasant Valley, including
the hill was owned by John Reed who refused to pledge a loyalty
oath to the Union and gave up his lucrative horse-breeding plantation
to move to the South. Reed willed the hill to his daughter, Mrs.
Elizabeth Prather of Pittsburgh.
In 1903, John A. Howard purchased the sixty-seven acre hill and
began building his mansion. Howard’s father had come to this country
with his parents at the age of nine from Ireland. With his wife Mary,
he settled in Steubenville until 1858 when he came to Ohio County
and lived on a farm. Born May 27, 1857, John A. Howard was one of
eight children. He was raised in Wheeling and attended public
schools. As a boy he found employment in the glass works and while
learning the trade of glass blowing took a commercial course at
Frazer’s Business College.
Howard went to Charleston in 1885 as the private secretary of
Gov. Wilson and while acting in that capacity, read law books in the
governor’s office, and passed the bar exam. He entered the
University of Virginia in 1887, again studying law, and the following
year began his practice in Wheeling in partnership with the Hon. J. B.
Sommerville. He was elected to Prosecuting Attorney in 1888.
Being an entrepreneur, Howard controlled the National Telephone
Company and The City & Elm Grove Railroad. The railroad owned
Wheeling Park and the Suburban Water and Light Company which
served the Wheeling Creek area and was worth $4 to $5 million at the
time.
Author Melville Davisson Post, also a Wheeling lawyer, dedicated
his book “Randolph Mason, His Strange Schemes” to Howard. The
book is about a lawyer who advises his clients on how to commit
crimes and avoid punishment.
At the peak of his career, Howard wanted to build a home that
would be a showcase. Construction began in 1903 and the stables
and carriage houses were built first to house the owners while the
mansion was completed.
Architect Fred Faris, built the mansion in the Italian renaissance
style and constructed an incline to haul the tons of necessary stone
from the National Road up to the finger of land where the mansion
now stands with steep ravines on either side. The stone came from
Beres quarry. The cornice (crown on the outside top of the house)
was said to duplicate one made by Michaelangelo.
When completed in 1914, the mansion included intricate
balustrades on the grand staircase which were carved by Italian
wood-workers brought to the area by W. C. Kloblaugh who
supervised the construction. Instead of carved spindles, the
balustrade was mahogany and consisted of carved ivy wreathes
festooned with ribbons. The seats in the hallway were carved from
Italian walnut and Goeblin tapestries adorned the walls of the
entryway.
When finished the mansion had thirty rooms and the dimensions
were startling. The living room, to the left of the entry way measured
60 feet by 35 feet. The paneling is Circassian walnut.
One writer described the room thus: “In the center of the outside
wall is a massive Siena marble mantel flanked with art glass windows
corresponding in design to the beautiful Italian gardens on the
exterior. The marble is a veined buff, and must be fifteen feet across
the shelf. The colors for this room were taken from this center
furnishing [the mantle]. The shades of buff, orange and brown are
found in the hangings and walls. Prism glass chandeliers and
sconces take care of the lighting. The floor of this room as well as the
hall and other rooms of the first floor is teakwood, put in with a
conventional design. One could not imagine anything more delightful
than to be comfortably located in such a handsome and spacious
room outlined with every elegance known to architects, builders, and
decorators.”
The landscape architect for this “Switzerland of Wheeling” was
Paul Oglesby who was then employed by the Philadelphia Parks
Commission. He introduced his formal garden with a pair of urns
adorned with dancing Grecian maidens on either side of the entrance
and four statues depicting the four season placed amid the plantings.
Ornamental garden benches invited visitors to sit a while before the
background of cedars, hedges, and brilliant blooms of the borders.
The hillside itself had exotic plantings and forest trees were tiered
as one climbed the hill. A twenty-foot waterfall spilled through the
ravine which one crossed via the stone bridge. As Howard’s Run
traced down the glen, truckloads of ferns had been planted to
enhance the hillside hideaway, and John Howard added to the magic
of the ravine by placing gnomes carved in Austria throughout the
glen. Numerous exotic plants such as flowering crabs, Chinese
peonies, and Japanese cherry were planted on the hillside and shady
spots were covered with rhododendron imported from Biltmore, the
Vanderbilt estate in Asheville, North Carolina. The great wall along
the National Road was built from stone quarried at Murraysville,
Jackson County, West Virginia.
By 1920, Howard needed money and converted a house at the
bottom of the hill into apartments. Since this was a financial success,
he built a larger apartment house next to it. Investing heavily in the
Suburban Improvement Company proved to be the attorney’s
downfall when it was taken over by Fidelity Investments. When
Fidelity went into receivership the mansion was broken up into
apartments and was put up for auction in 1947. Lots at the bottom of
the hill were sold off.
John Howard died in 1933 at the age of 77. Howard’s contribution
to Wheeling was a secluded, treasured neighborhood cherished by its
residents for its privacy and beauty.
If you have ever stood at Medical Park in Wheeling and looked
across the interstate to the hills, you might have noticed a unique
mansion and wondered about it.
The hill on which the mansion stands is called Howard Place and
was first purchased by the grandparents of Harry McClure, Sr. who
built the McLure Hotel. Later, quite a bit of Pleasant Valley, including
the hill was owned by John Reed who refused to pledge a loyalty
oath to the Union and gave up his lucrative horse-breeding plantation
to move to the South. Reed willed the hill to his daughter, Mrs.
Elizabeth Prather of Pittsburgh.
In 1903, John A. Howard purchased the sixty-seven acre hill and
began building his mansion. Howard’s father had come to this country
with his parents at the age of nine from Ireland. With his wife Mary,
he settled in Steubenville until 1858 when he came to Ohio County
and lived on a farm. Born May 27, 1857, John A. Howard was one of
eight children. He was raised in Wheeling and attended public
schools. As a boy he found employment in the glass works and while
learning the trade of glass blowing took a commercial course at
Frazer’s Business College.
Howard went to Charleston in 1885 as the private secretary of
Gov. Wilson and while acting in that capacity, read law books in the
governor’s office, and passed the bar exam. He entered the
University of Virginia in 1887, again studying law, and the following
year began his practice in Wheeling in partnership with the Hon. J. B.
Sommerville. He was elected to Prosecuting Attorney in 1888.
Being an entrepreneur, Howard controlled the National Telephone
Company and The City & Elm Grove Railroad. The railroad owned
Wheeling Park and the Suburban Water and Light Company which
served the Wheeling Creek area and was worth $4 to $5 million at the
time.
Author Melville Davisson Post, also a Wheeling lawyer, dedicated
his book “Randolph Mason, His Strange Schemes” to Howard. The
book is about a lawyer who advises his clients on how to commit
crimes and avoid punishment.
At the peak of his career, Howard wanted to build a home that
would be a showcase. Construction began in 1903 and the stables
and carriage houses were built first to house the owners while the
mansion was completed.
Architect Fred Faris, built the mansion in the Italian renaissance
style and constructed an incline to haul the tons of necessary stone
from the National Road up to the finger of land where the mansion
now stands with steep ravines on either side. The stone came from
Beres quarry. The cornice (crown on the outside top of the house)
was said to duplicate one made by Michaelangelo.
When completed in 1914, the mansion included intricate
balustrades on the grand staircase which were carved by Italian
wood-workers brought to the area by W. C. Kloblaugh who
supervised the construction. Instead of carved spindles, the
balustrade was mahogany and consisted of carved ivy wreathes
festooned with ribbons. The seats in the hallway were carved from
Italian walnut and Goeblin tapestries adorned the walls of the
entryway.
When finished the mansion had thirty rooms and the dimensions
were startling. The living room, to the left of the entry way measured
60 feet by 35 feet. The paneling is Circassian walnut.
One writer described the room thus: “In the center of the outside
wall is a massive Siena marble mantel flanked with art glass windows
corresponding in design to the beautiful Italian gardens on the
exterior. The marble is a veined buff, and must be fifteen feet across
the shelf. The colors for this room were taken from this center
furnishing [the mantle]. The shades of buff, orange and brown are
found in the hangings and walls. Prism glass chandeliers and
sconces take care of the lighting. The floor of this room as well as the
hall and other rooms of the first floor is teakwood, put in with a
conventional design. One could not imagine anything more delightful
than to be comfortably located in such a handsome and spacious
room outlined with every elegance known to architects, builders, and
decorators.”
The landscape architect for this “Switzerland of Wheeling” was
Paul Oglesby who was then employed by the Philadelphia Parks
Commission. He introduced his formal garden with a pair of urns
adorned with dancing Grecian maidens on either side of the entrance
and four statues depicting the four season placed amid the plantings.
Ornamental garden benches invited visitors to sit a while before the
background of cedars, hedges, and brilliant blooms of the borders.
The hillside itself had exotic plantings and forest trees were tiered
as one climbed the hill. A twenty-foot waterfall spilled through the
ravine which one crossed via the stone bridge. As Howard’s Run
traced down the glen, truckloads of ferns had been planted to
enhance the hillside hideaway, and John Howard added to the magic
of the ravine by placing gnomes carved in Austria throughout the
glen. Numerous exotic plants such as flowering crabs, Chinese
peonies, and Japanese cherry were planted on the hillside and shady
spots were covered with rhododendron imported from Biltmore, the
Vanderbilt estate in Asheville, North Carolina. The great wall along
the National Road was built from stone quarried at Murraysville,
Jackson County, West Virginia.
By 1920, Howard needed money and converted a house at the
bottom of the hill into apartments. Since this was a financial success,
he built a larger apartment house next to it. Investing heavily in the
Suburban Improvement Company proved to be the attorney’s
downfall when it was taken over by Fidelity Investments. When
Fidelity went into receivership the mansion was broken up into
apartments and was put up for auction in 1947. Lots at the bottom of
the hill were sold off.
John Howard died in 1933 at the age of 77. Howard’s contribution
to Wheeling was a secluded, treasured neighborhood cherished by its
residents for its privacy and beauty.
