Moment in Time (November 24, 2021)
Oswald Hering (1874-1941) was a noted New York architect and author. The son of a civil engineer, Hering studied architecture at MIT and Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1901, he opened his own architectural practice in New York City, and specialized in country and suburban homes. Hering pioneered the residential use of reinforced concrete, and focused his designs on the entire landscape plan. He designed several notable homes, including Trailsend, the Kettering home of former Ohio governor and presidential candidate James M. Cox, and the Butler Sheldon Mansion in Marble Cliff. Hering was the author of many books, including Concrete and Stucco Houses (1912) and Economy in Home Building (1924), available in the Smithsonian Library Digital Collection.
The top photo is from the November 1908 issue of the publication American Architect and Building News highlighting sample work from New York architect Oswald Hering (lower right). It is a view of the Butler Sheldon mansion in Marble Cliff (Sheldon is shown as a caricature above.) At the lower left is an aerial view of the mansion and surrounding acreage, with the curved driveway from Roxbury Road, and the railroad at the bottom.
One of his published philosophies was that the architectural design benefitted from a strong friendship with the client, allowing the architect to more explicitly realize the owner’s vision. The Sheldon Mansion was used in many publications as an example of this philosophy. As Mr. Hering himself said in one such article, "Mr. Sheldon’s residence is a good example of the success attained when the client is willing to 'make friends' with his architect. This implies a more or less intimate relationship, calling for an exchange of confidences, and the development of mutual trust and respect."
This French-style Sheldon mansion, located at 1599 Roxbury Road, was built in 1908, taking four years to complete. It was built by influential Marble Cliff resident and Columbus businessman Butler Sheldon, son of Robert Sheldon, founder of Sheldon Dry Goods. (Butler Sheldon's sister, Flora, was the senior President Bush's paternal grandmother, who lived nearby at 1550 Roxbury.) Sheldon was born in 1871 and went to work for his father while still in high school. In 1895 he became very ill, and was sent to live on a ranch in Colorado for 6 months to recover. When he returned he rejoined the dry goods company, eventually becoming vice president. He later became president of the Columbus Railroad Co., the Columbus Traction Co., and the Columbus Light, Heat & Power Co. Sheldon was active in the governing of the Arlington Place and Marble Cliff community and served as mayor, both before and after the designation of Marble Cliff as a hamlet in 1901.
The 25-room home had a 3-story carriage house built into the side of the hill that it sat on. The first floor of the carriage house was for horses, the second floor for automobiles, and the third was the gardener's apartment. The three-story house had living areas in the first floor, including an extensive study, a large living room, and a beautiful staircase to the second floor. The second floor had 8 chambers (bedrooms) and 4 baths and two extending porches above first floor loggias overlooking the gardens. A ballroom in the third floor of the house was surrounded by four bedrooms and a bath. The mansion also had a putting green, tennis court, and its own railroad siding for the delivery of supplies and coal for heating.
In 1917 it was sold to the Wallick family, owners of the Deshler Hotel at Broad and High, and in 1928 it was subdivided into 4 luxury apartments of six and seven rooms each, and second floors were added to the two matching porch wings, seen here in garden front view in the photo. It is currently hidden from view by the more recent Roxbury Arms Apartments developed fronting Roxbury Road.