CONNEAUT - The charming brick octagonal home on old
Route 7 south of Conneaut has been owned by three generations of the
present family. Wilfred and Kathleen Kaiser surround themselves with
the legacy of their forebears and preserve the past in their home for the
future.
The charm of the octagonal
house is apparent instantly to visitors as they are greeted with pie
shaped corners in the front foyer entrance hall. The home features
five bedrooms, upstairs and a kitchen, dining room, living room, den,
bedroom and hall downstairs and a bathroom on each floor. The living
room and dining room are square. however the rooms immediately off these
rooms reflect the "wedge shape" in corners for a delightful contrast to
uniformity.
The basement is constructed of
boulders from 24 to 26 inches thick. According to Kaiser, this
created a problem when water was piped into the house replacing a well
that was built into the cellar wall.
When his grandfather Leon F.
Lillie purchased the property in 1917 he added the front porch that graces
the front entrance today. The walls of the house are double layers
of brick with air space between. The Kaisers discovered a painted
plaster mural on the ceiling when they began to redecorate soon after they
moved into the home in 1941. The painting had been covered with
wallpaper and was in bad shape and couldn't be saved.
According to the Kaisers, the
hill in back of their home (a 5,000 year old Indian burial site) has
more historical significance then the home itself. Two
archaeological digs have been undertaken. A dig conducted by the
Conneaut Archeological Society in 1971 uncovered several artifacts and the
remains of three Indian burials.
When Wilfred and Kathleen
Kaiser moved into their home in 1941 that had previously been owned by his
parents, Kathleen vowed that it would be a happy house. Reflecting
back on the 37 years the family has spent in the home, both concede that
it has been a happy place. At holiday time the two Kaiser children
and six grandchildren arrived home for an old fashioned Christmas and it
was indeed a happy house!
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