History:
Hower House was completed in 1871 by John Henry Hower, a leading Akron industrialist who was active in the milling, reaping and cereal industries. Hower and architect Jacob Snyder designed this house in the Second Empire Italianate style. The floor plan, known as the " Akron Sunday School Plan", features rooms radiating from a large octagonal center hall. The plan was used for churches across the United States. This 28-room mansion is capped with a mansard roof and soaring tower, and is filled with hundreds of treasures and furnishings the Hower family collected from around the world.
In 1901, John Henry's son Milton Otis, his wife Blanche, and their two children, Grace and John, came to live in the house. The elderly Hower and his second wife moved to a smaller home nearby. Blanche continued to live in the house even after John Henry and Milton Otis both died in 1916. Sometime later, Grace and her husband, John, moved into Hower House with Blanche. The house was occupied by the Hower family for 100 years before it was deeded to The University of Akron in 1970. In 1973, Hower House was placed on the National Register for Historic Places.
The house has three floors with a ballroom on the third floor. Two and a half acres of lawn and stately trees provide a green island of tranquility for The University of Akron campus community.
Today, Hower House remains one of the finest and best preserved examples of its style in the country. It is supported by private donations, the Friends of Hower House, the Hower House Victorians and The University of Akron. The house has become a lasting symbol of an era of elegance in America.
Visitors are welcome to view the unique architecture and rare treasures of this National Historic Landmark 11 months of the year. It is closed during the month of January.
