2560 Stratford Road (2000)

This Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired prairie bungalow was designed by Cleveland architect Myron Vorce for Cornelia and James Beardslee in 1915 and built on land purchased from the Shaker Heights Land Company for $10.00. The firm of Reamer and Vorce also designed the original buildings of what is now Metro Health Medical Center, formerly City Hospital. Vorce is also responsible for the design of much of the present park and boulevard system in Cleveland.

The house is a highly original interpretation of the Bungalow style. It exhibits broad hipped roof, wide eaves and two segmentally vaulted dormer windows. The soffit has irregularly spaced, paired brackets. The lower fenestration includes a rounded arched entrance with continuous light around the leaded glass door. Broad segmentally arched windows with upper transoms provide light-filled rooms with views from all sides. Frank Lloyd Wright influences are clearly evidenced by the broad horizontal design, bands of windows, terraces, and steps up to the main floor living area.

The present owners acquired the house only three years ago in a particularly serendipitous fashion. After loving it from afar for ten years, they were moments away from placing a bid on another house when the real estate agent told them that the Stratford property had come on the market that very day. In the short time since that day, extensive work has occurred inside and out with a list of to-do projects still on the slate. The new owners have done a major part of the labor themselves. They designed the kitchen in conjunction with cabinetmakers, while keeping a sensitivity to the style and age of the home, and have done all of the landscaping and interior decorating themselves.