Monday, July 20, 2009

2861 Lee Road - from the Hopper Family Archive



I like to see what other people publish on Flickr under the tag or description "Shaker Heights". Much to my surprise, I came across this set of photos, all published under a Creative Commons license.



The photographs, from the Hopper Family Archive, show 2861 Lee Road, Shaker Heights, Ohio, in what appears to be the 1950s. All photos are credited to Flickr user jhhymas. Below are some of the more interesting photographs - or you can check out the full set. According to the Cuyahoga County Auditor, the house was built in 1914.



The old dining room.



Living room.



Kitchen. I think that that's a Dishmaster faucet. Any thoughts?



Icebox, with the kitchen sink in the foreground.



The icebox.



Third floor bathroom. Note the tile floor with the Greek key pattern, the tiled walls, the glass shelf over the sink, and the interesting overflow on the sink. Further, I'm pretty darn sure that it looks like the toilet bowl slopes backwards. All this in the servants bathroom.



This photo makes me suspect the preceding caption. I seriously doubt that the servants bathroom would be so well finished but yet this one would have wood floors.



Finally, one last bathroom.

All photos credit to Flickr user jhhymas.

3 comments:

June said...

Isn't Flickr fun?? I must give credit for these family photos to either my father or my mother who purchased the needs-a-little-love house in 1957 when my father, a life long GE employee, was transferred from Schenectady to Cleveland to work in steel mill engineering. My father died in 1987 and my mother eventually sold the house. It is my understanding that the area was developed after access to downtown was available via the Rapid Transit.
My husband and I and our two small children used the servant's quarters while my husband was in graduate school at Western Reserve. It was a wonderful family home, spacious and on a large lot, the way homes in that neighborhood are. And I had the added benefit of getting to know my younger siblings better than I had, since they were so young when I went to college and married.
You have a very nice blog. It was a delightful to find these pictures there. I began my library career at the Arlington Branch of the Cleveland Public Library. I wonder if it is still there. June

Christopher Busta-Peck said...

June,

I appreciate that you've made these photographs available. They're even more interesting with this great story behind them. As a bit of an old house curmudgeon, I've found the relatively minimal documentation of bathrooms and kitchens over the years to be quite frustrating, especially as these are the rooms most likely to be changed.

Alas, the Arlington Branch no longer exists - or at least not under that name. I'll have to look into that.

Again, I appreciate you making these photos available. I'm going to try to take some exterior shots from the same angles the next time I go past it.

Why S? said...

What a great find. And what a nice bonus that you two were able to connect.