Spiegel Grove

{{Short description|Historical home of US President Rutherford B. Hayes}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Spiegel Grove (Rutherford B. Hayes Summer Home) | nrhp_type = nhl | image = Spiegel Grove (Rutherford B. Hayes Summer Home).jpg | caption = | location = Fremont, Ohio | coordinates = {{coord|41|20|29|N|83|07|48|W|display=inline,title|source:GNIS}} | locmapin = Ohio#USA

| mapframe = yes | mapframe-marker = building | mapframe-zoom = 12 | mapframe-caption = Interactive map showing the location for Spiegel Grove | area = {{convert|25|acre|m2}}<ref name="nrhpinv2"/> | built = 1873 | architect = Sardis Birchard | architecture = | designated_nrhp_type = January 29, 1964<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=457&ResourceType=Building |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109121736/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=457&ResourceType=Building |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 9, 2009 |title=Spiegel Grove (Rutherford B. Hayes Summer Home) |access-date=2008-04-09|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> | added = October 15, 1966 | refnum = 66000624<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref> }} thumb|right|Rutherford and Lucy Hayes' grave at Spiegel Grove{{Rutherford B. Hayes series}} '''Spiegel Grove''', also known as '''Spiegel Grove State Park''', '''Rutherford B. Hayes House''', '''Rutherford B. Hayes Summer Home''' and '''Rutherford B. Hayes State Memorial''' was the estate of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, located at the corner of Hayes and Buckland Avenues in Fremont, Ohio.

Hayes moved to the estate in 1873. After his death the house was given to the state of Ohio. The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is now located on the property.

==History== ''Spiegel'' is the German and Dutch word for ''mirror''. The traditional story is that the estate was named by Hayes' uncle Sardis Birchard, who first built it for his own residence. He named it for the reflective pools of water that collected on the property after a rain shower.

Rutherford Hayes inherited the estate and moved there in 1873. He died in 1893 and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery next to his wife who had died in 1889. Following the gift of this home to the state of Ohio for the Spiegel Grove State Park, their bodies were reinterred at Spiegel Grove in 1915. They are buried at a memorial on the property. The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, established in 1916, is also located here.

"''Old Whitey''", a war horse that served during the Civil War and belonged to then-Major (later Major General) Hayes, became the mascot of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The horse was buried at Spiegel Grove upon his death in 1879, with a grave marker reading ''Old Whitey A Hero of Nineteen Battles 1861–1865''.<ref name="Hoogenboom">Hoogenboom, Ari. ''Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President''. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1995, p. 173.</ref>

Spiegel Grove was designated as a National Historic Landmark on January 29, 1964.<ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination: "Spiegel Grove," The Rutherford B. Hayes Estate / Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center|url={{NHLS url|id=66000624}} |format=pdf|year=1984 |author=Joseph Scott Mendinghall |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=66000624|title=''Accompanying nine photos, from 1877, 1880, and 1974''|photos=y}} {{small|(32 KB)}}</ref><ref name="nhlsum"/>

On October 15, 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is owned by the Ohio History Connection.

==Design== [[File:Spiegel Grove floor plan.png|left|thumb|300px|1885 first floor plan sketch by Henry Howe]] The house was built around 1860 for Sardis Birchard as a two-story brick mansion. It featured many bedrooms and a wrap-around porch. In 1880, after Rutherford B. Hayes had moved in, he expanded the house by the addition of 5 new rooms, and the massive staircase that led all the way up to the 4th floor. In 1889, 6 more rooms were added to the house, giving it its current appearance. After the expansions, the house had more than 30 rooms and {{convert|10000|sqft|m2}} of living space.

==Tourism== The estate was given to the state for the Spiegel Grove State Park.{{when|date=March 2026}} Since then, the house has been open for tourists as a house museum. For a fee, visitors can view the various rooms as well as furniture, books, and other items in the house. Visitors are allowed to access most of the rooms on the first and second floors. The third and fourth floors are not open to the public.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Spiegel Grove}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090602011515/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/hayes_spiegel_grove.html National Park Service site on Spiegel Grove] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080125083805/http://omp.ohiolink.edu/OMP/NewDetails?oid=604735&scrapid=7348&format=yourscrap&sort=thedate&searchstatus=0&count=1&hits=1 Rutherford B. and Lucy Webb Hayes at Spiegel Grove] * [http://www.rbhayes.org/ Hayes Center] * {{HABS |survey=OH-2416 |id=oh1786 |title=Spiegel Grove, 1337 Hayes Avenue, Fremont, Sandusky County, OH |dwgs=16}} * {{GNIS|1045530|Spiegel State Park}}

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Ohio Category:National Register of Historic Places in Sandusky County, Ohio Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Ohio Category:Houses completed in 1873 Category:Historic house museums in Ohio Category:Presidential homes in the United States Category:Museums in Sandusky County, Ohio Category:Ohio History Connection Category:Presidential museums in Ohio Category:Buildings and structures in Fremont, Ohio Category:Houses in Sandusky County, Ohio Category:Tombs of presidents of the United States Category:Rutherford B. Hayes