This Queen Anne style house was
built about 1900 for Mr. Charles Cormick, an interior decorator associated with
Sterling and Welch and later the Halle Bros. Company. The planning of the
house, as with some of its neighbors, is unique in that the main rooms do not
face the street, but instead look out onto the bluff and command an
extraordinary view of the city below.
The homes along this stretch of
Chestnut Hills Boulevard are part of the Ambler Development begun by Dr. Nathan
Ambler in 1900. The area is a parcel bounded by Cedar Glen (now Martin Luther
King Boulevard, North Park Boulevard and Harcourt Drive). Dr. Ambler was
influenced by rustic English and American suburban developments of the late
1800s. Among them were Frederick Law Olmsted's Riverside (Chicago) and projects
in Boston and Philadelphia which featured house sites on curving streets with
an air of privacy and exclusiveness.
One unique feature of this area
is that it is in Cleveland as well as Cleveland Heights. The house at 2247
Chestnut Hills is one of seven on the street with Cleveland addresses. The
placement of these houses and their orientation is reminiscent of simultaneous
developments in Clifton Park (Lakewood) and Bratenahl, where the lakeside
became the focal point.
The interior of the house has
been drastically renovated in recent years to provide a stark background of
white walls and natural floors for the owner's collection of paintings and
other works of art, most by Ohio artists. One of the remaining original
features is the stairway, which the architect used as a focal point. Windows in
the back of the house provide an open feeling and serene views. A large
children's play area occupies the third floor.
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About the Tour Year Index
Listings are accessed by the year(s) a building was featured in the Heritage Tour.
Within the year, listings are alphabetical by street name.