Anyone who’s restored an old house knows part of the fun is uncovering old layers of wallpaper, paint, floors, etc. The eight-year journey to restore the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Walnut Hills, from initial planning to July’s public reopening, uncovered similar nuggets of knowledge. In particular, says Executive Director Christina Hartlieb, workers found scraps of original wallpaper in door jams they used to create new wallpaper coverings that capture each room’s original period.
In a larger sense, the restoration also uncovers for many visitors the house’s dual significance. Most of us know it was built in 1833 and was home to Harriet Beecher Stowe after her father moved here to serve as president of Lane Theological Seminary. Harriet and many of her siblings became vocal anti-slavery activists. She moved with her new husband to Maine, where she published Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852. The novel was credited with swinging public attitudes in the North against the evil of slavery.
After changing ownership several times, the house was added on to in 1908 and eventually became the Edgemont Inn boarding house and tavern. Its relatively short life in the 1930s and ’40s corresponded with the emergence of Walnut Hills as a thriving African-American neighborhood and business district. The Negro Motorist Green Book, which helped Black motorists find safe housing and restaurants, listed the Edgemont Inn as one of the few welcoming spots in Cincinnati.
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