Oldest Stone House

Lakewood, Ohio’s Oldest Stone House was built in 1834 by Scottish immigrant John Honam. It sits at the front of Lakewood Park on Lake Avenue, where it was moved from its original location on Detroit Avenue in 1952. The sandstone structure was saved from demolition by the founder of the Lakewood Historical Society, Margaret Manor Butler, and is still managed as one of the society’s historic structures

Not much is known about John Honam other than he was born in Scotland in 1790 and came to Rockport Township (now the cities of Rocky River and Lakewood, Ohio) around 1830 from Portland, Maine. He was one of the township’s first settlers and owned over 90 acres of land spanning from Lake Erie to Detroit Avenue – where he built his house in 1834 – between what is now Belle and Cook Avenues. Honam was a weaver, but he likely earned a living farming his land. When he died in 1845, his daughter Isabella and her husband Orvis Hotchkiss lived in the house and continued to farm a portion of the land in addition to running a tannery and a steam mill. Isabella and Orvis raised a family in the house and after her death in 1897, no descendants of John Honam lived in the house.

By the late 1800s, the rural farming community of Rockport had begun transforming into an affluent neighbor of the City of Cleveland. By 1871, the township area now known as Lakewood became known as East Rockport, a community of farms, orchards, and vineyards inhabited by people moving from New England and New York and immigrating from England and Germany, and later, Eastern Europe. In 1899, East Rockport became the Hamlet of Lakewood with 400 residents. The Old Stone House was purchased by the Lakewood Realty Company as a sales office until it was rented to German immigrants Otto and Sophia Miller and their three children from 1901-1903. In 1911, with 12,000 residents, Lakewood gained City status.

While there are gaps in the house’s history, it served several commercial businesses including a shoe repair shop, a doctor’s office, and a photography studio. At various points during the early 1900s, it was rented as living space, from the whole building to just rooms to let. Between 1919 and 1952, however, G.P. Hostelley’s upholstery and furniture repair shop would be the house’s longest running tenant and also the last.

By 1930, the population of Lakewood had reached 70,509. The area around the Oldest Stone House on Detroit Avenue was a growing commercial district. In 1942, furrier Stephen Babin bought the Oldest Stone House, which was just north of his shop and in 1952, planned to expand his business and raze the house. Babin offered local historian Margaret Manor Butler the house at no cost, but she would have to move it. Butler negotiated with the City of Lakewood to move the house to a parcel at Lakewood Park on land that was originally owned by John Honam. She successfully raised the money to move the house and, at the same time, started the Lakewood Historical Society.

In 1953, The Oldest Stone House was opened as both a museum dedicated to honoring frontier life in mid-1800s Rockport Township and home to Lakewood Historical Society. The society has since moved its offices, but the museum still offers seasonal guided tours twice a week. You can call their office for details.

Cleveland Historical. Oldest Stone House, Cleveland Historical. Accessed July 16th 2022. https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/222.

Lakewood Historical Society. The Oldest Stone House Museum, The Lakewood Historical Society. Accessed July 16th 2022. https://www.lakewoodhistory.org/properties/oldest-stone-house-museum.

, Lakewood Historical SOciety. A Brief History of Lakewood, Lakewood Historical Society. Accessed July 16th 2022. https://www.lakewoodhistory.org/preservation/lhab-heritage-advisory-board/brief-history-of-lakewood.