Pine Meer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Pine Meer
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Entrance to the house's long driveway
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 Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
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| Location | 5336 Cleves-Warsaw Road, Cincinnati, Ohio |
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| Area | 5.1 acres (2.1 ha) |
| Built | 1926 |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 82001468 |
| Added to NRHP | November 30, 1982 |
Pine Meer, built between 1922 and 1924, is a special historic place in Green Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. People in the area often call it the "Schott Estate" after its first owners. This amazing house even appeared on a TV show called The Mansion in 2004! You can find Pine Meer at 5336 Cleves Warsaw Road, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Contents
What Does Pine Meer Look Like?
Pine Meer was built for William Charles (Wm. C.) and Lucia Riedlin Schott. A famous Cincinnati architecture firm, Rendigs, Panzer and Martin, designed the buildings. The main house is a great example of Tudor Revival style. This means it looks like old English homes.
Main House Features
The house has walls made of rough stone and stucco with wooden beams. It has many windows grouped together and decorative stone details. You can also see large dormer windows and pointed gable ends. The roof is made of colorful slate, and the chimneys are very fancy.
A cool part of the house is the front terrace. The main rooms on the first floor open right onto this terrace. The main entrance doors were set back under a low porch. This made them different from the nearby service entrance.
Carriage House Details
Behind the main house is a carriage house. This building also has rough stone on its first floor, like the main house. But it uses yellow brick on the sides and back. It has sharp, angled gables and bright half-timbered patterns.
The carriage house used to have a garage for four cars. It also had a gas pump! Upstairs, there were rooms for servants. The lower back part of the building was a barn with stalls for animals. It faced what used to be fenced pastures.
Inside the Main House
The inside of the main house also shows off the Tudor Revival style. It has arched doorways and fireplaces. The ceilings have special Tudor and Jacobethan designs. The walls are covered with decorative wood panels.
Originally, the house had 13 rooms and 4.5 bathrooms. It even had a "sunken" music room with a built-in organ! This room had extra-tall ceilings. There was also a screened porch off the main bedroom, but a later owner enclosed it. The house also had a large attic and a basement with a laundry room, card room, and wine cellar.
The Grand Entrance
The driveway entrance is very impressive. It has rough stone gateposts topped with carved pineapples. Shorter stone piers are on either side, connected by slate "rooflets" over curved arches with iron grills. One gatepost had a bench and a brass plaque saying "Pine Meer." The other plaque said "Wm. C. Schott."
The long driveway splits into a circle between the two buildings. Another drive goes to the back of the carriage house.
Gardens and Outdoor Spaces
Pine Meer was once a large farm with over 100 acres. It was turned into a "Gentleman's farm," like the big country houses in England. The pastures were used for cattle, pigs, and a horse. Some areas were even used for sharecropping.
The Pond and Gardens
The main house sits on a gentle hill in front of a U-shaped pond. The pond once had a small boat dock and an island for swans. There was also a fountain in the middle. The pond had an underwater spring and was filled with largemouth bass. It was designed with a decorative stone overflow that drained extra water under the road.
While most of the land was fenced pastures, the area around the house had beautiful gardens. There was a formal garden, a vegetable garden, and a rose garden. The Schott family loved trees and plants. The grounds were professionally designed. This included a flower garden with a seated trellis. There was also a charming bridge over a stone creek-bed. A stone staircase led from the music room's veranda to the formal garden. This garden had a stone-trimmed swimming pool and fountain. (A newer owner later removed the original pool and gardens and built a larger pool.)
Trees and Wildlife
Hundreds of trees were planted, with over 50 different types! There was a long entry drive lined with tall oak trees. There were also groves of pine trees and an apple orchard. Many daffodils were planted, which looked beautiful with the flowering trees in spring.
The maple and oak trees provided bright red and yellow colors in the fall. The evergreens and hollies kept their color all year. Next to the orchard were wooden beehives. These helped pollinate the orchard trees and flowers. They also produced honey! Dozens of birdhouses were placed in the trees. Instead of cutting a tree for Christmas, Wm. C. Schott always bought a live tree. Over 30 such trees were planted on the grounds, and some grew very large.
Family Homes and Community Land
On a hill west of the estate, each of the Schott's sons built homes for their families. William Riedlin Schott (Wm.R.) named his home Copper Beeches. This was because two beautiful copper beech trees grew next to his house.
In the early 1960s, the area started to change. New neighborhoods were built nearby. A local church and school, St. Antoninus, wanted land for sports fields. Wm. C. Schott gave them a pasture for this use. He eventually donated land to the church. This land is now known as William C. Schott Memorial Fields, or simply Schott Fields.
The Schott Family History
William C. Schott (Will) and Lucia Riedlin Schott came from families with important business connections. Will's father, J. M. Schott, started J. M. Schott & Sons Cooperage in Cincinnati. This company made barrels. Lucia's father, Wm. Riedlin Sr., owned the Bavarian Brewing Company in Covington, Kentucky.
By the early 1900s, Bavarian was the biggest brewery in Kentucky. The cooperage firm shipped barrels to breweries in many states. After J. M. Schott passed away, his sons took over both J.M. Schott & Sons Cooperage and the Cincinnati Galvanizing Company. In 1920, the Schott brothers built a new plant for the galvanizing firm. Will became the General Manager and a Director.
After a period when alcohol was forbidden (Prohibition), Lucia Riedlin's relatives tried to reopen the Bavarian Brewery but were not successful. However, Will and his brothers bought the brewery in 1938 and made it bigger. Will and his brothers became leaders at both the Bavarian Brewery and the Cincinnati Galvanizing Co. for many years.
By the 1950s, Will Schott's sons, William R. Schott and Louis L. Schott, were living next to Pine Meer. They became President and Secretary/Treasurer of Bavarian's. Louis L. also became a leader in the family's galvanizing firm in the 1960s.
William C. Schott was a generous person. He gave money for a local hospital wing and murals for Western Hills High School. He also donated the land for Schott Fields. Lucia Schott passed away almost ten years before her husband. Will lived at Pine Meer for over fifty-five years. He passed away at his home in 1981 when he was 97 years old.
Why Pine Meer is a Historic Site
Pine Meer was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 30, 1982. It qualified because of its important and special architecture. It is currently the only historic house listed for Green Township.
Louis L. Schott, the youngest son, wanted to protect the main house. He also wanted to keep the original style of landscaping around the buildings. He helped divide much of the original land into a new neighborhood and some condominium projects. These projects had rules about architecture to help keep the special look of the original estate and the area.
Images for kids
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Entrance to the house's long driveway
