Five

THE SHAKER HEIGHTS HOME

At the center of the Shaker Heights ideal was the home and the effect of a gracious house upon its inhabitants. The Shaker Heights home was to be a place of solace and serenity where one could rest and be renewed. It would be an environment in which children grew and thrived, where adults found a life that was pleasant and dignified—a context that fostered development of character and refinement in all who lived there.

The homes were designed to support this vision. The architecture was conservative, drawing from traditions that had developed comfortable and inviting homes. Interiors were spacious with high ceilings and large windows to let in light. Amenities such as fireplaces and centrally placed staircases conveyed a sense of warmth and charm. There were rooms with sufficient capacity to host large family gatherings but also private spaces to allow for solitude and times of reflection.

Each house was different, but there was a harmonious blending of all structures in the community: houses and public buildings. They all looked like they belonged. While the houses may appear lavish when viewed from another era, they were designed to express dignity and restraint, avoiding both the elaborate ornamentation of the Victorian era and the experimentation of modern architecture.

And these houses were solidly built, underscoring the promise of permanence that came with purchase of a house in Shaker Heights. Unlike the areas of Cleveland that had fallen into decline, Shaker Heights was going to stay the same. The houses were designed to last; the character of the neighborhoods was also protected by deed restrictions that controlled what was going to be built, how it was going to be built, and for what purposes these structures would be used.

A Van Sweringen Company publication expressed the ideal “Home is more than a house, even as character is more than a beautiful face. Yet, even as character may combine with personal grace, so may my house have symmetry, convenience, and charm which shall be so invested with our home-spirit that all may say, Here is the home of a happy family.”

A CROWN UPON THE HIGHLANDS. According to a sales brochure of the Van Sweringen Company, “Just to the east of the city and a hundred feet above it, gained through a narrow gateway hewn in the solid rock, lies a vast reservation of homes. Follow the winding highway which rises foot on foot and there, like a crown set upon the highlands, rests Shaker Heights Village.” (CSU.)

GOOD TASTE IN HOME BUILDING. Shaker Heights houses were designed to support an ideal life—the utopia of the private home. They offered comfort without extravagance, hospitality tempered by reserve, and spaciousness without overwhelming the inhabitants. Above all, they were to be in good taste, reflecting the preferences of the Van Sweringen brothers. “The most pleasing is never conspicuous—never flashy.” (CSU.)

YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER. This 1929 advertisement from the Van Sweringen Company shows the North Union Shaker gristmill of a century before and the houses that now reside on Shaker land, drawing a comparison between the two scenes. Both feature a restful, healthy environment: sunshine, fresh air, and water. Both present a sense of peace and serenity. But Shaker Heights is a modern utopia that offers crucial advantages: the private home rather than a shared community house, the carefully tended garden rather than the open field, rapid transit instead of plodding oxcarts, streets instead of country lanes—and the crucial difference, which was the promise of permanence. The Valley of God’s Pleasure lasted 67 years, but Shaker Heights would be forever, thanks to the “carefully drawn Van Sweringen Company restrictions.” This utopia was planned to last—it “shall never pass away.” (CSU.)

COLONIAL-STYLE HOUSE. The Van Sweringens chose three basic styles for Shaker Heights homes: Colonial, English, and French. Within each of these were variations. Colonial came in Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival. English came in Tudor, Early English, and Renaissance. French styles included Country Chateau and Classical/Renaissance. Most community buildings were in Colonial style. (SHPL.)

ENGLISH-STYLE HOUSE. Over a dozen architects designed houses in Shaker Heights. They did not produce copies of existing structures but individual creations based on themes found in Colonial, English, or French styles. Shaker Heights houses, then, are unique creations as they also elicit memories of older structures from places far away from Ohio. (CSU.)

FRENCH-STYLE HOUSE. The architects of Shaker Heights houses paid close attention to the neighborhood context in which their buildings were placed. They sought an overall harmony among the structures. Even though houses lining a street might draw from different traditions, they all appeared to belong in this neighborhood. They coexisted peacefully. (CSU.)

APPROPRIATE COLOR SCHEMES. A booklet called Shaker Village Standards guided building construction throughout the city. The standard was “good taste,” which combines things of beauty with features designed for comfort and convenience. A Shaker Heights home was to suggest hospitality and friendliness, tempered by dignity and reserve. To help the builder produce the desired effect, color schemes were included for the three basic styles of homes. (SHPL.)

SHAKER BOULEVARD HOME. The newly constructed Shaker Boulevard ran parallel to the rapid transit tracks. This provided an opportunity to showcase luxury homes such as this house built in 1923. Early Shaker Heights residents remembered riding rapid transit trains and seeing these stately mansions under construction. The houses were different than those found in other communities, as was the way of life promised to people who lived in Shaker Heights. (SHPL.)

INTERIOR OF SHAKER BOULEVARD HOME. Shaker Heights houses also offered spacious interiors. This home features a two-story living room with leaded-glass windows and a balcony overlooking the living space below. More modest Shaker Heights homes also featured a sense of spaciousness with high ceilings and large windows. (SHPL.)

CENTRAL STAIRCASE. Interior features, such as this prominently located staircase, enhanced the graciousness of these homes. The wood-carved railings on this staircase offer an example of the detailing produced by hundreds of craftsmen employed to work in Shaker Heights homes. Today it is hard to find anyone with the skills to produce comparable work. (SHPL.)

EXTERIOR DETAILING. This rear view of the same Shaker Boulevard home demonstrates that the extensive detailing extended to sections of the structure that would not be in public view. The patterned brickwork on this section was not necessary—stucco would have done just fine. But Shaker Heights homes expressed ambitions that reached beyond what would be “just fine.” (SHPL.)

BRIGHTON ROAD, 75-FOOT FRONTAGES. Shaker Heights was divided into distinct neighborhoods with traffic patterns that naturally drew people together. Major roads created borders while less-traveled streets connected those living within a neighborhood. The residential streets sometimes curved, sometimes stretched into unusually long blocks. Both were designed to discourage commercial development, making access inconvenient for any business that might try to establish itself. (SHS.)

WARRINGTON ROAD, 60-FOOT FRONTAGES. The lots with 60-foot, 50-foot, and 40-foot frontages offered more affordable housing, but no matter what the size of property and no matter where the house was located, the standards applied. Houses had to be architect designed with uniform placement on the property and solid construction throughout. (SHS.)

TWO-FAMILY HOME. Houses for two families were allowed in certain sections of the city, but they were not supposed to look like two-family homes. This created opportunities for residence in Shaker Heights for families of lower incomes while retaining the overall appearance of the community. A casual observer would not realize that this home was divided into two distinct sections. (SHPL.)

NOT OUR STYLE. Appropriateness to the neighborhood remains a guideline in Shaker Heights housing. Here a 1952 newspaper article reports that 23 neighbors had gone to court to halt construction on this house which, in their opinion, did not fit. Individual freedoms and community standards sometimes find themselves at odds in Shaker Heights. (CSU.)

SHAKER COURT UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1941. The original plans for Shaker Heights restricted housing to single-family homes—or houses that appeared to be single-family homes. Later, apartment buildings were constructed within Shaker Heights and in the Shaker Square neighborhood. Today about half of Shaker Heights residents live in single-family homes, the rest in apartments, condominiums, or other multifamily structures. (CSU.)

TENDING THE BEES. Here a group of students receives a lesson in beekeeping with newly constructed houses in the background. Shaker Heights was conceived as especially conducive for raising families with its emphasis on good schools, distinct neighborhoods, and a secure environment. It is perhaps an irony that this family-friendly city was created by the Van Sweringen brothers who never married. (SHCS.)

VAN SWERINGEN DEMONSTRATION HOME. The structures created for their city bore marks of the brothers’ personalities: conservative, understated, and dignified, as in this Onaway neighborhood home. All Van Sweringen buildings—from Shaker Heights houses to the Terminal Tower—were substantial, built to last. Another irony is that such solid structures were constructed using such tenuous financing. Looking back, it appears that the brothers created something out of nothing. (CSU.)

SHAKER GATEPOSTS. This Colonial on Lee Road is placed on land that was once a field used by the North Union Shakers. On the tree lawn in front are two square stone gateposts from the old Shaker community. Those gateposts had marked the entrance to this field; today they stand as a reminder of the earlier residents who once called this area home. (SHS.)

DRUM MAJOR AND MAJORETTES, 1947. Everyday life in the city identified as America’s wealthiest looked like everyday life in many American communities. There were high school football games, the band, and a stadium filled with spectators. There were parades and festivals and pageants. Kids played baseball, teens went to dances, dads played golf, and moms went to meetings. Perhaps, though, Shaker was more genteel than the typical American town. Junior high school girls wore blue skirts, saddle shoes, and middy blouses: white on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, colored on Tuesday and Thursday. Boys wore dark pants and light shirts to school. Female teachers were required to have a pair of white gloves available in case they were invited to a student’s house for lunch. Male teachers always wore jackets—if a teacher’s jacket clashed with his pants, he was advised to make better choices in the future. A new teacher in the Shaker Heights schools who had grown up in ethnic New Jersey remembered that students addressed him as “Sir.” Nobody had ever called him “Sir” before. (SHPL.)