Greystone (Arms Family Museum)- Youngstown, OH
Completed in 1905, Greystone is one of the finest examples of Arts and Crafts architecture in the United States. Largely designed by owner Olive Freeman Arms, the home contains exquisite examples of light fixtures, stained glass, wrought iron and period furniture. The quality here is absolutely magnificent, embodying the early twentieth century movement perfectly.
Olive Freeman Arms, a watercolorist and designer, studied at the Bradford and Peebles schools in New York before traveling to Europe to continue her art education. Following her 1899 marriage to distant cousin Wilford P. Arms, Olive began designing her Youngstown home, perched high above the city’s industrial area, next door to her parent’s imposing 1881 Romanesque Revival stone mansion (now The Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church).
Although both homes were constructed of stone, the designs could not have been more different. Olive Arms chose to use uncoursed random rubble style masonry for her home, eschewing the uniformity found next door. Inside, Olive personally designed the home’s stunning details, including the fireplaces, doors, light fixtures, and stained glass. Indeed, it is these design details, and their superb execution, which make this house shine.
Following Olive’s death in 1960, she donated the furnished mansion, along with an endowment, to the Mahoning Valley Historical Society. Left virtually untouched, the property opened to the public in 1964, with all of the original art, fixtures, and furniture in place. The small details here are absolutely outstanding- the hand forged wrought iron, the hand blown glass, and all of those doors! The fireplaces here are also very unique, with one featuring a moveable hood, and another a warning about gossip. All around magnificent, Greystone is one of the finest houses in the country.
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