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Built by Samuel H. Grabill in 1903, this Georgian Revival
home reflects the grandeur of the day with Ionic columns supporting
the portal, the rounded verandas on either side of the entrance, the fan
light over the front door, and the extended carriage entrance on the
north side. The design for the house came from Geo. F. Barber & Co.,
an architectural firm from Knoxville TN which sold mail order plans.
This was design #1 in one of their turn-of-the-century pattern books.
The same design was built in Battle Creek, Michigan by the Post
cereal family.
This house was constructed on the site of a previous home
owned by Gen. Willard T. Slocum who was Ashland’s highest ranking
soldier in the civil war. Many interesting artifacts were unearthed during recent excavations that may have belonged to the General.
A large center hall extended to the pantry, refrigerator, and kitchen rooms in the rear. The parlor or music room was on the south side, the family sitting room on the left. The hall from the carriage entrance joined the larger one. A curved stairway on the south side of the large entrance hall led to the second floor where five bedrooms, the maid’s quarter, and the bath were located. There is a large attic room on the third floor where decedents remember looking through stored National Geographic magazines and wheeling a baby buggy about.
Samuel, who was born in 1846, was an only child who grew up on a farm in Hayesville. The Grabill family farm is stands, south of the Joint Vocational School on Ohio 60. In 1877, Samuel married Anna Ewing and had four children: Nancy, Howard, John, and Elizabeth. Howard was associated with his father in managing their 482 acre farm. John was a credit manager for several rubber companies. Elizabeth married John L. Donley in an impressive holiday wedding in the house on Dec. 27, 1907. Poinsettias, American beauty roses, pink and white carnations, holly, palms, and potted plants surrounded the 125 guests assembled in the great hall for the 5:30 p.m. service. Grabill became one of the owners of the Ashland Gas & Electric Light Co., was a director of the First National Bank, and helped to organize the Star Telephone Co. while continuing to operate the family farm.
In the 1940’s the house was changed by James Fredo into four apartment suites. It remained an apartment for 40 years, until the 1980’s when Greg and Kristie Plank converted it back into a single family dwelling. Chris and Beth Buchanan purchased the home in 1992. They enjoy renovating with Victorian furnishings, making it a beautiful setting in which to raise their three sons.
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