library pick-up pit stop
H A R R I E D
May 2014
The William E. Telling, Jr. Mansion, a mix of English Tudor and French Normandy styles, was built at a cost of $700,000 on a parcel of land that had been the childhood homestead of successful local businessman Telling. Built in 1929 by John Sherwood Kelly, a cartoonist turned architect with no formal training, the 20,000 square foot building originally contained six bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two powder rooms. All materials used in the construction of the home were locally sourced, except for the large custom-made double doors leading into the dining room, which were imported from France, and the door handles, which originated in Mexico. Sculptured sandstone window frames and roof tiles were specially designed and fired for the mansion.
The historic building has served as the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library since 1952, but with plans to build a new branch library, has been sold to a private party (a not uncontroversial decision).
I admit it. This building has special meaning to me as the library I frequented (and explored and imagined stories and characters for) as a child. I fondly recall a puppet theatre housed in Telling’s trophy room overlooking his study (designed like a loft of a barn). How much do your childhood memories affect the attention you pay to the details of a building?