MANSFIELD — Richland County commissioners on Tuesday approved spending $36,790 to replace nearly half of the roof at the historic Oak Hill Cottage.
The decision came during a meeting with representatives from the Richland County Historical Society, including board President Alan Wigton.
Wigton said the funding would allow the society to replace 19 squares of shingles on the roof’s southern slope, about 34 percent of the entire roof’s 56 squares. In roofing terms, a square is a 10-by-10-foot area
“This is the area of the roof that gets all the weather, all the sun,” Wigton said of the historic structure at 310 Springmill St. on the city’s north side, built in 1847.
Wigton said the entire roof was replaced in 2003. However, the southern slope deteriorates quicker due to the northeasterly prevailing winds, he said.
He said the remaining two-thirds of the roof are sheltered from weather and will not need replaced for another 15 to 20 years. Cedar shingles will be used in the project.
“When the home was built, the roof would have been a white oak or similar native shingle, hand-split and shaved smooth,” Wigton said.
“By the time the cottage was first re-shingled, the available material would have been cedar. Keeping with the cottage’s restoration period of the 1870s, we have decided to keep what’s currently on the roof, cedar, and find an in-kind replacement,” he said.
“We devised a long-term plan to replace the roof in phases. Instead of replacing good roof and bad roof altogether at one time, we can probably replace the south-facing slope of that roof twice in the lifetime of the rest of the roof.
“It makes very little difference on appearance. (With) the angles of the end slope, you don’t see both sides of the roof at the same time. So we think it’s a good plan going forward. And the cedar shingles, they weather to a natural appearance very quickly, within a couple of years,” Wigton said.
The local historical society acquired in the building on the city’s north side in 1965 and deeded it to the county, according to Wigton. The society’s mission statement is to “acquire historical buildings and sites in Richland County and maintain these structures to allow public viewing and enjoyment in perpetuity.”
Commissioner Tony Vero made the motion to approve the expense, using county capital funds.
“We own the building. It’s a beautiful building. It’s a gem of Richland County. I got to see where (Wigton) showed me personally on the roof. We went through the tour. It certainly needs it. It’s what capital project dollars are for. So it would make sense,” Vero said.
The work will be done by The Regency Roofing Companies, Inc., from Macedonia, Ohio.
Wigton said the commissioners’ vote to fund the roof work will allow the non-profit historical society to spend its own capital funds on improvements surrounding the cottage.
Oak Hill was built by John Robinson in 1847 on a hill overlooking Mansfield, then a town with few thousand population, and close by the railroad he helped to build, according to the historical society’s websitte.
This Gothic Revival house has been the focal point of the view to the north from the center of town since it was built. Although encroached upon by the city, the elevation and orientation of the house projects a vision of a nearly forgotten era across the intervening industrialized valley.
Robinson and his family lived at Oak Hill until 1861 and five of his 12 children were born there. From about 1855, Robinson was associated with Wells Fargo Co. and involved with the establishment of the Great Southern Overland Mail.
In 1861, he left Oak Hill on a trip to purchase a silver mine in Batopilas, Mexico.
He operated the mine at great profit to his investors, who included Wells Fargo directors W. G. Fargo, Danford Barney, and Ashbel Barney.
In the late 1850s, Dr. Johannes Aten Jones, an eye, ear, and nose specialist, advertised he was coming to this area to treat patients. One of his patients was Amanda Barr.
Jones fell in love with Barr’s sister, Frances Ida, and they were married in 1861. She was 17 and he was 31.
In 1864, Frances persuaded Jones to buy Oak Hill for her. When Jones bought the house, he replaced fireplace surrounds and mantel shelves with the ones presently in the house, except the two in the parlor, which are original; the other five are different from these, and each other, and are Italian marble.
On the marble mantle in the dining room there is a letter “J” carved into it. He also imported the beautiful framed mirrors from France. Natural gas service was available in 1864 and Jones had the service brought to Oak Hill to use for lighting and heating.
All but four of the chandeliers in the house are original. They were taken down during the restoration and refurbished and wired for electricity.
Jones installed gas burners in the fireplaces to provide heat. Furnaces were installed prior to 1896, with ductwork to the first floor only.
Indoor plumbing was installed in 1877, connected to the new city water works. Bathrooms on the first and second floors were installed, with hot and cold running water and a third tap for rainwater collected in the cistern.
The furniture in the house was purchased by the Jones family. Most of it was purchased in New York City and brought to Mansfield by train.
The property was divided and sold in 1923 after the eldest daughter, Ida, died.
Leile, one of the Joneses’ daughters, moved back into the house in 1947 among its furnishings of bygone days, until she sold the house and its contents to the Richland County Historical Society in 1965.