The origin of Grey Lodge is more colorful than its drab name might suggest.
A landmark for more than a century, the Akron mansion has stood witness to joy, tragedy, drama, triumph and, through it all, a perseverance that continues to this day. We know it as the Akron Woman’s City Club, but the home existed 45 years before gaining that stately name.
Bertram G. Work, superintendent of B.F. Goodrich Co., built the Perkins Hill home for his new bride, the former Marion Sawyer, after their June 1900 wedding in New York. As the Akron Daily Democrat reported: “Plans are being prepared in Chicago by architect Howard Shaw for a splendid new residence, which will be erected by Mr. B.G. Work, this summer. It will be located on a lot in the beautiful Perkins estate, southwest of the present Work homestead.”
Presented to society
The new Mrs. Work was presented to Akron society that December with two receptions at the West Exchange Street home of her mother-in-law, Etta W. Work, and guests were invited to survey the progress of construction on the nearby mansion along the historic Portage Path.
William A. McClellan won the contract for the $20,000 home (about $657,000 today), a three-story frame structure in the Italian Renaissance Revival style with a pressed brick veneer and stone masonry. Stylish elements included leaded-glass windows, ornate plasterwork, walnut paneling, marble walls and crystal chandeliers.
Akron’s high society
Opening in 1901, Grey Lodge played host to lavish parties for Akron’s high society. Captains of industry and their wives enjoyed dinner dances, music recitals, garden parties and other confabs at the luxurious home.
A full complement of hired help attended to residents and guests, including coachmen, stable boys, gardeners, cooks, waiters, maids, laundresses and, later, chauffeurs. The third floor served as a servants’ quarters.
Move to New York
The Works welcomed a baby boy, Bertram Jr., in 1902, the same year that Bertram Sr. was promoted to vice president of Goodrich. Although his home was in Akron, the social-climbing executive’s heart was in Manhattan. He frequently visited New York and moved the corporate office there after being promoted to president in 1907.
Despite making additions to Grey Lodge, the Work family permanently settled on a 30-acre estate at Oyster Bay on Long Island.
The Works held one of their final flings at Grey Lodge, a January 1911 party that was heralded as “one of the most brilliant and elaborate affairs of the winter season.” About 150 guests attended in tuxedoes and gowns.
Newspaper report
“The ballroom, beautiful in its own adornments, was transformed for the occasion into a perfect bower of beauty,” the Beacon Journal reported. “The floor was encircled entirely with exquisite potted azaleas whose gorgeous pink blossoms made a bright reflection against the dark, highly polished floors.
“Stately palms and ferns together with trellis work of southern smilax added their charm and contrasted prettily with the pink blossoms. The terrace of one of the ballrooms had been canvassed in and entirely covered with dark green vines out of whose midst tiny electric lights peeped like so many stars.”
The Works retained ownership of the Akron mansion, returning for occasional visits and leasing the home to friends, but they finally put Grey Lodge on the market.
Goodyear executive
George M. Stadelman (1872-1926), vice president of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and his wife, Gertrude, purchased the mansion in 1917 but allowed the American Red Cross to use it for World War I first-aid training while the family resided in its summer home, The Beeches, at Congress Lake.
Grey Lodge regained vitality when the Stadelmans moved in that fall with their son Grant, 11, and daughter Gertrude Elizabeth, 9.
The family redecorated the home and opened it to Akron society for hospital benefits, war drives and national defense programs. Following Armistice Day, the family hosted dinner dances, tea parties, ice cream socials, Tuesday Musical concerts, garden parties and even outdoor movies.
The well-heeled guests included such prominent Akron names as Seiberling, Firestone, Schumacher, Robinson, Shaw, Raymond, Wanamaker, Leggett, Good and Noah.
Children’s parties
Perhaps most joyful were the children’s parties for Grant and Gertrude for birthdays, Christmas, Halloween and Valentine’s Day. When Grant left for Hill Preparatory School in Pottstown, Pa., and Gertrude left for Spence School in New York, the house fell strangely silent.
Stadelman was named Goodyear president in 1923, but held the title for only two years.
He and his wife were asleep Dec. 6, 1925, when two gunmen broke into the home, demanded money from the mansion’s safe and escaped with $10,000 in cash and jewelry. The Stadelmans were never the same.
In failing health with kidney trouble, Stadelman died that January at age 54. His wife, Gertrude, passed away two years later at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan.
House silent again
In 1932, their daughter Gertrude married William Eustis Corcoran of New York and their son Grant wed Adele “Polly” Hanna of Cleveland.
The house fell silent again.
Two nearby streets — Work Drive and Stadelman Avenue — pay tribute today to the families who lived there.
Developers proposed converting the 40-room mansion into apartments, but the Good Convalescent Home moved there in 1937 and operated for nearly a decade.
Polishing gem
In 1946, the Akron Woman’s City Club dusted off an old jewel and made it shine again. The 23-year-old club moved from the Pythian Temple at 34 S. High St. to the newly remodeled Grey Lodge and gave it a new vitality.
Meanwhile, the Little Theatre Players transformed the carriage house in 1948 into the Coach House Theatre.
The old mansion welcomed several lavish additions and renovations, and survived at least three big fires. It’s a landmark that rises from the ashes.
Club motto
Grey Lodge used to be a private residence, but now it’s a home for friendship, entertainment, education and philanthropy.
As the club’s motto states: “The beauty of our house is order. The blessing of our house is contentment. The glory of our house is hospitality.”
Beacon Journal copy editor Mark J. Price is the author of the book Lost Akron from The History Press. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.