tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post4014733280025762706..comments2024-03-23T09:18:34.779-07:00Comments on RoadToParnassus: The Old Murray-Dunn House in Mentor, OhioParnassushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-38139716476119660752023-12-26T10:00:07.265-08:002023-12-26T10:00:07.265-08:00Hello Anonymous, Thank you for taking time time to...Hello Anonymous, Thank you for taking time time to write in. You are correct that they have torn the very heart out of Mentor. Some of the small towns that added lots of shopping plazas were in more rural areas where mostly fields were adjacent to the communities. But Mentor is an important and historical city, and had a lot of its heritage left when they started bulldozing it. I realize that Mentor was/is growing, and these kinds of stores are deemed necessary today by some, but it seems that in Mentor no planning was done other than what was convenient for the developers.<br />--JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-85498975108437735892023-12-26T09:54:41.764-08:002023-12-26T09:54:41.764-08:00This comment appears above, but I think it is bett...This comment appears above, but I think it is better here in the thread:<br /><br />From Anonymous, December 23, 2023 at 12:57 PM<br /><br />"It was another big big beautiful mansion from the Garfield home going east to Center St (Rt 615) on the north side of Mentor Ave it was bub big beautiful mansions & they have all been torn down for shopping & business. Mentor municipal thinks nothing is the historic value of all the homes on Mentor Avenue on both sides they’re gone they think another strip mall needs to be built that goes empty with no business in it. They lost out when Amazon and. Are the other online shopping started? They tore Mentors history down."Parnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-4857584322027903882023-12-26T09:50:13.372-08:002023-12-26T09:50:13.372-08:00Anonymous, since I don't think you intended th...Anonymous, since I don't think you intended this as a reply to be inserted here, I am appending your comment and my reply down below. --JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-3341459167691560282023-12-23T12:57:06.160-08:002023-12-23T12:57:06.160-08:00It was another big big beautiful mansion from the ...It was another big big beautiful mansion from the Gardield home going east to Center St (Rt 615) on the north side of Mentor Ave it was bub big beautiful mansions & they have all been torn down for shopping & business. Mentor municipal thinks nothing is the historic value of all the homes on Mentor Avenue on both sides they’re gone they think another strip mall needs to be built that goes empty with no business in it. They lost out when Amazon and. Are the other online shopping started? They tore mentors history down.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-87155927827205886422023-11-24T11:29:27.507-08:002023-11-24T11:29:27.507-08:00Thank you for the additional information. I was er...Thank you for the additional information. I was erroneously told about Target in a casual conversation, but I should have checked some maps to precisely locate the house. It's sad that so many old Lake County landmarks are now razed and the land put to such common commercial use. --JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-16425600586681433662023-11-24T10:23:02.203-08:002023-11-24T10:23:02.203-08:00This house was just East of Center Street(route 61...This house was just East of Center Street(route 615) It was originally a car dealer, but Target is further East past Heisley Rd.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-22388948534039700812023-01-22T08:59:21.302-08:002023-01-22T08:59:21.302-08:00Hello Stan Zitello, You make a good point. Mentor...Hello Stan Zitello, You make a good point. Mentor (and nearby places like Waite Hill and Kirtland Hills) had lots of open space, attractive terrain, and were close to many of the rich families in Cleveland who wanted country estates. These estates are starting to be decimated also, but quite a few are still around. --JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-35964715080973771502023-01-22T08:56:46.455-08:002023-01-22T08:56:46.455-08:00Hello Anonymous, Yes, it seems that Mentor is gla...Hello Anonymous, Yes, it seems that Mentor is glad enough to see its cultural history go. The sums involved in saving these old houses or relocating them are peanuts compared to all the development going on, so I have to see these losses as a deliberate act of Mentor and its controlling forces. --JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-58555860897277032452023-01-19T07:34:27.172-08:002023-01-19T07:34:27.172-08:00Mentor was an attractive location for wealthy peop...Mentor was an attractive location for wealthy people because Cuyahoga County imposed 'high' taxes upon real estate.Stan Zitellonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-88173475974157046392023-01-19T07:12:33.697-08:002023-01-19T07:12:33.697-08:00Mentor would definitely “pony-up” the cash if it w...Mentor would definitely “pony-up” the cash if it was a park!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-70090895903462476462022-08-19T21:38:15.424-07:002022-08-19T21:38:15.424-07:00Thank you for letting me know about this. Although...Thank you for letting me know about this. Although Trader Joe's probably would contend that they did not know about the Sawyer house, I have a feeling that they did, and a company like that certainly could have afforded the relatively small fee to have the house moved. Or they could pay now to have a different historic property saved (kind of like carbon credits). <br /><br />There used to be some easy-to-find photos of Painesville's octagon house, the Hobday-Walzer house, but it seems there is less available on the internet than there used to be.<br />--JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-67409446235261862432022-08-16T09:27:37.652-07:002022-08-16T09:27:37.652-07:00I was too young to have seen the octagon house in ...I was too young to have seen the octagon house in Painesville, but I heard some stories of it. I've tried finding a few pictures I had seen of it years ago along with a few stories about who lived there but Iam unable to find them online now. I'm fascinated with it. As for the stone house on route 20, Sawyer House, it has been torn down and is now Trader Joe's. Thank you for the wonderful pictures and story of this once great house.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-58513740334909702832021-12-19T22:10:53.922-08:002021-12-19T22:10:53.922-08:00Actually that property is still there. Several int...Actually that property is still there. Several interesting older homes surrounded by a stone wall. It is indeed bounded by Newell street.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-235013756557676852019-12-09T23:26:52.704-08:002019-12-09T23:26:52.704-08:00Hello again, gwb. I don't know why Blogger has...Hello again, gwb. I don't know why Blogger has resisted your comments so doggedly. Yes, so many important properties have disappeared from Mentor, Painesville and similar communities, that it makes it all the more imperative to save those remaining. <br /><br />Just before I left Ohio, we took a drive up Mentor Avenue, and were not heartened by all the traffic and development. We did see that fine stone house which which had been used as a restaurant and has been empty for a long time, and is currently in peril. -JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-46337171573640668982019-12-09T23:11:26.277-08:002019-12-09T23:11:26.277-08:00gwb left an additional comment on September 9, I j...gwb left an additional comment on September 9, I just discovered. I hope that there are not any comments that I am missing entirely, as the discussion is both so valuable and enjoyable. Here is gwb's comment:<br /><br />There was a similar place in Painesville between Jackson St and Mentor Avenue, gone now I see. Made up the block between two side streets. East of the Rt 44 extension, maybe east bounded by Newell St. <br />Parnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-18064907242575264182019-12-09T23:01:32.517-08:002019-12-09T23:01:32.517-08:00Hello gwb, I am so sorry to have missed your comme...Hello gwb, I am so sorry to have missed your comment for so long. Sometimes Blogger hides comments from me! Mentor must have been an amazing place before all the current developments, as your memories show. I guess it was close enough to Cleveland to attract some of the summer crowd, and well-located for many of the established Lake County families. --Jim <br />Parnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-25662400269261497542019-12-09T22:57:10.374-08:002019-12-09T22:57:10.374-08:00Thank you for sharing all of these memories. I thi...Thank you for sharing all of these memories. I think you can just see that car parked in the barn--to bad that wasn't a color photo. It was my understanding that Mrs. Dunn was an invalid, and after her husband died, moved into a nursing home. Perhaps that was one reason the house was so neglected. I heard many wild stories about the Dunns, and after talking to Mr. Dunn in person, who was not reluctant to tell tales on himself, I am ready to believe them! --JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-46264265702947035652019-12-08T13:02:43.903-08:002019-12-08T13:02:43.903-08:00Couple of memories of the Dunns. Tom used to driv...Couple of memories of the Dunns. Tom used to drive a mint green Cadillac and liked to stop at the Kenny Kings at Hopkins and Mentor Ave. If he stayed in there too long, his dachshund (who waited in the car) was known to blow the horn. His wife Ruth Ann Dunn, who I believe outlived Tom by some years, was a lovely, kind, elegant person who somehow managed to live in that interesting but neglected house. And they had a son, Tommy Dunn Jr, who lived in a farmhouse on the hundred acres or so where the Walmart now sits. It had been the site of Tom Sr.'s nursery. When I was young I heard a great story about how that nursery got started during Prohibition, but since I can't verify it, probably shouldn't repeat it here :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-66655530630517314712019-09-07T21:47:58.793-07:002019-09-07T21:47:58.793-07:00There was a similar place in Painesville between J...There was a similar place in Painesville between Jackson St and Mentor Avenue, gone now I see. Made up the block between two side streets. East of the Rt 44 extension, maybe east bounded by Newell St.gwb now of nycnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-50828032599468324862019-09-07T20:15:54.608-07:002019-09-07T20:15:54.608-07:00I grew up nearby, b.1953, nobody I knew had any id...I grew up nearby, b.1953, nobody I knew had any idea who lived there, just rumors- “mafia guy”, etc. There were/are several mansions and actual working estates in the area, I believe the Sherwin estate still functions. My life-long and sorely missed friend Richard Harrison grew up in the larger mansion on Perkins Drive- what a place. <br /><br />Mrs. Garfield used to pat me on the head, don’tcha know...<br /><br />Who owned Mentor Mansion on Rt 20 between Jackson Street and Hopkins Rd?<br /><br />Thanks for your efforts, I enjoyed finally getting inside the place and knowing its history.gwb now of nycnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-64879876594651257502019-06-19T11:01:41.721-07:002019-06-19T11:01:41.721-07:00Thanks for this fresh update. It is sad to see Men...Thanks for this fresh update. It is sad to see Mentor's past crumbling away like this. The only consolation I suppose is that it would not be dignified for a grand old house to be lost in a sea of condominiums and chain stores.<br />--Jim Parnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-28991608442348559912019-06-18T17:22:56.707-07:002019-06-18T17:22:56.707-07:00Hello again- There was a new article in the News H...Hello again- There was a new article in the News Herald today 6/18/19 about the trustees of the Echo Hill property planning to present their updated proposal to the Mentor Planning Commission this Thursday 6/20/19. Their new plan still does not account for the amazing, historical home that is truly one of the last remaining vestiges of Mentor's past. I feel it is accurate to now declare the Echo Hill home critically endangered. I am praying that the commission will somehow step up and do something (I did submit a very impassioned letter to the commission), but I am also a realist and the city of Mentor just doesn't care about preserving its historical buildings. So incredibly sad and depressing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-29873819020099127502019-06-17T15:41:25.573-07:002019-06-17T15:41:25.573-07:00There are many places in Lake County I want to che...There are many places in Lake County I want to check out this summer. The nature of Lake County is rapidly changing, with older areas being given over to development. The loss of historical sites in places like Cuyahoga County has been excused because many buildings were lost long ago, before history was appreciated or sometimes before the buildings were very old. Lake County cannot make the same excuses. --JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-36167104039512935422019-06-17T08:34:31.050-07:002019-06-17T08:34:31.050-07:00Yes, please check it out- it is a spectacular, bea...Yes, please check it out- it is a spectacular, beautiful piece of history and people really need to realize that it probably won't be around for much longer, which would be a tragedy for history lovers everywhere! Regarding the Murray-Dunn house, do you have an estimate of what year it was torn down? I tried googling it but couldn't find out what year it was. Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7314235093749031486.post-39121622722671822112019-06-15T20:15:34.306-07:002019-06-15T20:15:34.306-07:00I'll have to check out the Echo Hill house. La...I'll have to check out the Echo Hill house. Lake County is losing way too many of its historic properties. While this process has been going on a long time (remember the octagon house on Mentor Avenue?), it is getting to the point where there is little left! --JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.com