The Charles Fay House is a historic residence in the city of Wyoming, Ohio, United States. Erected in the late nineteenth century, it was originally the home of one of the city's leading educators, and it has been designated a historic site because of its distinctive architecture.

Architecture

Designed in the Stick-Eastlake style and built of wood on a stone foundation,, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2012-01-19. the Fay House is one of Wyoming's best

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

residences from an architectural point of view. Among its most distinctive features is its roofline: it is primarily covered with a hip roof, there are three different gabled sections, one of which is composed of two

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

led chimneys. Exquisite "

gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as ...

" carvings decorate the many bargeboards, while most of the rest of the house is covered with simple wooden weatherboarding. The house has been expanded since its 1875 construction: two small

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

(one on the eastern side, and one on the front) were seemingly added in the 1890s, and a small front porch and a small rear shed were also attached to the house after its completion.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 644.

Historic context

Good transportation is a leading reason for Wyoming's prosperity. The city lies near the old pre-statehood road that connected Cincinnati with locations farther north, such as Fort Hamilton and

Fallen Timbers The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Indigenous peoples of North America, Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their Kingdom of Gre ...

. Curves in the road were cut off in 1806, forming a new road that is today followed by Springfield Pike through central Wyoming. Improvements in the 1830s only enhanced its importance.McCauley, Jennifer. '. National Park Service, 1985-08-16. Accessed 2011-02-26. By this time, another mode of transportation had become significant: the

Miami and Erie Canal The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845 at a cost to the state government of $ ...

was built a short distance to the east in 1828, and the village of

Lockland Lockland is a village in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,449 at the 2010 United States Census. Lockland is located in southwest Ohio, north of Cincinnati. Its population has declined since the latter part of the 20th cent ...

grew up along its side. Railroads reached the city in 1851 with the construction of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad on the border between Lockland and Wyoming. Because of Wyoming's proximity to the industry of Lockland, its easy transportation to the booming city of Cincinnati, and its pleasant scenery, many wealthy industrialists purchased local farms and built grand country houses. Most such houses were built in the Wyoming Hills area, west of Springfield Pike; growth in this area continued until the coming of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Charles Fay was himself not a businessman; when Wyoming established a school system in 1882, he was appointed the principal, and he remained in this office until 1922.

Historic site

In 1979, a local historic preservation group began a citywide survey to identify Wyoming's historic buildings, and this effort culminated with a multiple property submission of eighteen houses, the

Wyoming Presbyterian Church Wyoming Presbyterian Church is a registered historic building in Wyoming, Ohio, Wyoming, Ohio, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, National Register on March 3, 1980. The church building was completed May 18, 1890,http://pcwyo ...

, and one

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Along with all but one of the other properties, the Fay House was listed on the Register in the following year, qualifying because of its historically significant architecture. It is one of five Reily Road houses included in this group, along with the Luethstrom-Hurin House, the John C. Pollock House, the Louis Sawyer House, and the

William Stearns House The William Stearns House is a historic residence in the city of Wyoming, Ohio, United States, near Cincinnati. Built at the turn of the twentieth century, it was the home of a business baron, and it has been designated a historic site. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, Charles, House 1875 establishments in Ohio Houses completed in 1875 Houses in Wyoming, Ohio Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Hamilton County, Ohio Queen Anne architecture in Ohio