While producing the next CityProwl audiotour of Cleveland's Buckeye Woodland Neighborhood, I came across the fact the one of Cleveland's most respected architects, Levi Scofield made his home in the area. A Civil War veteran born and raised in Cleveland, Scofield was the architect (and sculptor)for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Public Square, the Mansfield Reformatory, the Grand Arcade building in the Warehouse District and the Schofield Building on the SW corner of E. 9th & Euclid (it's been extensively altered with metal cladding on the outside). In addition, he designed many houses, schools and penal institutions that are no longer standing. He was the first Cleveland architect taken into the American Institute of Architects.
In 1898, he built his house on a bluff that overlooked the still-growing city and eventually, the Baldwin Filtration Plant Reservoir, completed in 1925. The residence featured his trademark rusticated stone, castle-like turrets and large windows. I would imagine that the area was still sparsely populated and retained the feel of a forest wonderland.
The house has fallen on rough times - it appears to have been used as senior housing in its most recent incarnation. The neighborhood has grown up around it and it sticks out among the smaller wood framed Cleveland doubles. It's former grandeur, however, cannot be mistaken and someday hopefully iy could be restored to reflect its glorious beginnings and honor the man who designed it and helped shape the city.
