Glendower Mansion opens for the season, time travelers welcome

Glendower Mansion & Garden

Glendower Opens for Summer Tours.  Our beautiful Greek revival house museum, Glendower Mansion & Gardens, opened for the 2019 summer season on June 1. Glendower is located at 105 Cincinnati Ave. in Lebanon, Ohio. Built in 1845, Glendower was the home of Ohio State Representative John Milton Williams from 1845 to 1868,  Civil War hero General Durbin Ward 1868 to 1904 and Lebanon's grand dame, Ladora Scoville Owens 1904 to 1940.  The house was purchased by the Warren County Historical Society in 1944 and opened as a memorial to the pioneers of Warren County, Ohio in 1945.  

1850's border print muslin dress property of
 the Warren County Historical Society 

Glendower is open for tours Friday, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4:00 p.m. June 1 through September 1.  Admission is $10.00 .Group tours of 15 or more by appointment Tuesday through Thursday, admission $8 per person.

Built by attorney John Milton Williams and his wife Mary Rigdon Williams using a local builder and plan book of the time, Glendower is nationally recognized for its beautiful Greek revival architecture. It was the first of five houses built between 1845 and 1852 on a hill just south of downtown Lebanon in an exclusive residential neighborhood known as Floraville. The house is furnished circa 1845 to 1865 with a fine collection of paintings, furniture and decorative arts.  

The garden consists of four acres of historic old trees and gardens maintained by the Warren County Master Gardeners.  The gardens include a allee providing a grassy walk way from the street to the impressive front entrance, a terrace garden and a medicinal herb garden.

Alpaca Lawn Mowers

The herd grazing the barnyard grass. 

We've had such warm weather this month and the grass in the yards around here has grown enough that I noticed some people mowed again this third week of December.  Last year we were covered in snow all month!

Since the alpacas seem to be only interested in eating grass I've been letting them out in the yard to "mow" the lawn, much like folks used to do with sheep long ago.  The alpacas nibble the grass down very short.

This morning though I notice Hollywick munching some ajuga, also known as bugle weed.  I love this semi evergreen ground cover. It is very hardy, covers the ground quickly, blocks most weeds and has beautiful blue spikes of flowers in the spring that go so well with daffodils.  

Belle and the ISA Brown hens hang out near by.

I had not however, counted on the alpacas finding it tasty.  A quick check of a couple of plant sources told me that all was well - ajuga is not poisonous to animals.                                                              

Rest In Peace Goldie

This morning when I stepped into the chicken house to feed and water the flock I found my sweet little chicken friend Goldie had died in the night.  Goldie was the matriarch of the flock and would have been eight years old this spring. She was the last of her hatching.

I call her my special friend chicken because she followed me around the yard like a dog and would stop and squat for me to pick her up and carry her when she became tired.

Goldie was the adventurous one who spent most of her days scratching through the yard and flower beds, rather than the open pasture, where she could find quick cover from hawks and coyotes under the shrubs or the back porch.  The ISA Brown hens took to her right away.  She was theit leader in foraging and they followed her willingly around the property while the rest of the flock has always preferred to stay near the chicken house.

Goldie, a Buff Orpington,  greeted me always with enthusiasm, spreading her wings and running across the yard to say hello and ask for a hand out.  This fall I noticed she had a hard time getting around and had quit spending any time with the ISA Brown group.  I knew she wasn't long for this world.  I buried her this morning where the yard meets the woods on the east side of the house and marked the grave with some flat creek rocks. Rest in peace little friend.