Page One Hundred Thirty-Five.
I'm currently reading a book which is all about a major thorough fare here in Cleveland: Euclid Avenue. I've mentioned in this blog before that Cleveland has a long history of tremendous wealth and during the 19th century most of that wealth was concentrated in one five mile section of Euclid. Well, reading about those people and their homes is just amazing. Can you imagine a private home with a basement large enough to house a real boxcar so the inventor-homeowner can improve the national railroad system? Or, how about a backyard with the world's largest windmill so the inventor-homeowner can improve national electrical systems? How about a residence with an observatory in back so its inventor-homeowner can observe the stars and distant galaxies?
Some of these homes were up to 40,000 square feet in size. The smaller ones on the strip were maybe 5,000. John D. Rockefeller's home was average sized coming in at under 10,000 square feet but his estate was 2 acres and over 200 feet wide, much larger than his neighbors.
Nowadays, only about three or four mansions remain of the couple hundred which were sitting there in 1900. After World War One, some of the homeowners gradually moved to the suburbs to get away from the grit and grime of the city. Other homes were gobbled up by commerce as Euclid was slowly transforming from residential to commercial. Some of the homes were too big for 20th century lifestyles.
That five mile strip today is (in order): Downtown; Playhouse Square (Cleveland's theater district); Cleveland State University; mixed use combined with future development and last but certainly not least, The Cleveland Clinic.
If you ever make it to Cleveland, Ohio drive down Euclid which recently underwent a $197,000,000 overhaul and street-scape project. Just imagine the ghosts.
Showing posts with label The Cleveland Clinic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Cleveland Clinic. Show all posts
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
The Absentee Party Host
Page Eighty-One.
I was the kitchen help at an intimate dinner party in 1983. The job was next door with the neighbors while I was at my first live-in nanny position. These neighbors, the Windsors, had a particularly beautiful, and comfortably large home and hired me to do many projects over a two or three year period. I think I painted a few different bedrooms plus the first floor enclosed porch. I cleaned their basement, took care of the backyard while they were vacationing and was the party help on a couple occasions.
Each of their parties live in my memory for different reasons. This one in question was slightly bizarre because the husband, a hot shot surgeon at The Cleveland Clinic, spent most of the party with me, in the kitchen. He explained that he liked me more than he liked his guests. He went out front occasionally and talked to them during cocktails and, of course, had to sit with them during dinner. But mostly he was with me in the kitchen. His wife came in and admonished him regularly, but he didn't seem to care.
I think that the party was primarily her friends. Also, I suspect that he was introverted and had a hard time with crowds. He saw me as a compromise. He was technically attending his party by being on the same floor (as opposed to spending the entire evening in the bedroom) but socialized primarily with me. I didn't care. He kept me company. I bet lots of husbands do that sort of thing, too.
I was the kitchen help at an intimate dinner party in 1983. The job was next door with the neighbors while I was at my first live-in nanny position. These neighbors, the Windsors, had a particularly beautiful, and comfortably large home and hired me to do many projects over a two or three year period. I think I painted a few different bedrooms plus the first floor enclosed porch. I cleaned their basement, took care of the backyard while they were vacationing and was the party help on a couple occasions.
Each of their parties live in my memory for different reasons. This one in question was slightly bizarre because the husband, a hot shot surgeon at The Cleveland Clinic, spent most of the party with me, in the kitchen. He explained that he liked me more than he liked his guests. He went out front occasionally and talked to them during cocktails and, of course, had to sit with them during dinner. But mostly he was with me in the kitchen. His wife came in and admonished him regularly, but he didn't seem to care.
I think that the party was primarily her friends. Also, I suspect that he was introverted and had a hard time with crowds. He saw me as a compromise. He was technically attending his party by being on the same floor (as opposed to spending the entire evening in the bedroom) but socialized primarily with me. I didn't care. He kept me company. I bet lots of husbands do that sort of thing, too.
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