Name/Title
Henry's house to hum againEntry/Object ID
NP.03.09.01Scope and Content
Restoration planned for old Wischmeyer (26566 Lake) home
Henry's house to hum again
WEST LIFE July 10, 1961 - Page - 7
Photographs to the right of the article:
Railing with "I HEXTER / AUG 11, 1895
Side of the hotel showing the railing.
Full height of the hotel, possibly the south side.
The VanGuntens have done it again!
The Bay Village family who bought the old Westlake Village Hall in 1959, to sell it at a tidy profit last year, have now applied the precedes to a more glamorous, though less civic landmark, the old Wischmeyer House.
Located at 26566 Lake Rd., the Wischmeyer House is a former summer hotel of high fashion, flourishing for almost 80 years in the pre-erosion, pre-pollution and pre-zoning era.
Early History
One hundred years ago, Henry Wischmeyer, a machinist in the township of Cleveland, was told by his doctor that he should change jobs. Henry and his wife left Cleveland and started west to farm land in this area. He discovered over 100 passed up by other settlers. He knew grapes would grow in clay and bought this land. He planted the first grapes in this area (which was to become 2nd to Italy in this product inch for inch. He paid wages of 8 cents per hour for a 10-hour day and reaped $169.00 per ton which is good even today. His prosperity became know to many and several others started doing the same thing, which eventually drove the prices down to $69.00 per ton. This turn in fortune made him mad so he started to make wine of his grapes (no record of him jumping up and down in the grapes even though he was mad).
Henry built a wine press and cellar (see photos), and a home for his son and his wife in 1864. His wine was supposed to be so good that his home literally became a tavern, with so many customers coming this direction (he also shipped refreshments by boat and Nickle Plate RR) that what with customers unable to return home, and he having to find a place to keep them, he just naturally went into the overnight lodging business. This later developed into a hotel. The man mad money and this hotel was the finest in the area. Today the windows all work and there are no cracks in the plaster. This hotel had 19 rooms and held over 70 people. It had gardens which still can be seen - with some imported shrubs planted in shape of diamond, heart, club and spade). It had a ball room, outdoor bandstand and a pavilion (which still is there). He catered to only the highest classes, never allowing even colored help. People came from Pittsburgh, Columbus, Toledo, and as far as New Orleans, La. They took rooms for week, month or season. This was a summer hotel only, because of the water supply. In winter when water was frozen they were unable to get it, so they closed. In summer they pumped their own water with an old steam pump (the foundation still stands) from Lake Erie.
They came to the hotel by boat, rail and carriage.
Card games were held, and in the evening there was a band for dances. There was also boating and swimming. This entire area was uninhabited and guests could walk or ride horses through the woods along the lake. To the south of the hotel, was pasture land for guests horses. Pasture was fenced from Dover to Glen Park from Lake Rd. south to south side of what is now Wolf Rd.
The hotel grew in fame. In the period following World War I reservations were required over a year in advance. The wealthy and famous frequented the Lake Erie playground.
Prohibition and zoning laws, whereby Lake Rd. business was ruled out by city fathers shortly after the alcoholic beverage business were ruled out by the elected guardians in Washington, let to the closing of the hotel. The Wischmeyer family, who held the hotel exclusively through the years hoped for a while that the rules would change so that they could reopen. Prohibition eventually ended but Bay Village never changed their mind about the zoning of their main artery, so the Wischmeyer House was never reactivated.
Plan refurbishing
The present owners have indicated a desire to remodel the old hotel, maintaining its present architectural form. The Bay Village planning commission, still keeping careful scrutiny over Lake Rd., have expressed doubt as to whether the code will permit the plan to be carried out, even for use as a single residence.
However the outcome, the Wischmeyer House of bygone days, is no more than a warm memory to the minds of a few local old-timers. The structure may or may not be saved from destruction, but the water, beach, zoning and environment have forever ended the possibility of the return of the earlier glamour.
The VanGuntens plan to occupy the old Wischmeyer home while a tentative buyer from Lakewood plans restoration of the Hotel and the beach house. If Bay Village approves the subdivision plans.Collection
Wischmeyer Family CollectionRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Wischmeyer, Henry Sr.Person or Organization
Wischmeyer, Henry Jr.Person or Organization
VanGunten
