Historical society renovates 19th century Riley House, Moses Roach House
by John Benson
In case you haven’t noticed, 19th century homes are becoming harder and harder to find. That explains why the Twinsburg Historical Society, whose mission is to preserve history and protect artifacts, is doing its part with two recent renovation projects.
The first was the roughly $10,000 exterior restoration of the Riley House, built in 1853.
“The Riley House is owned by the city, which leases it to us,” Twinsburg Historical Society President Andy Tomko said. “One of the things historically that’s happened is the city is not known for maintaining their properties. So in the lease, it specifies that we maintain everything except the lawn.”
The recently completed work included the exterior painting of the Riley House, as well as replacement of rotted boards in the fascia and trim. The windows were glazed and the chimney, painted white originally, was stripped.
“We wanted to have the natural 1853,” Tomko said. “The house is extremely important to the area. Originally, it was a 1,000-acre dairy farm at the time the Rileys built it. We want to keep it. We show it off, but as an 1853 house, it does need some interior work, which we’re anticipating getting done soon. Like any old house, it needs constant maintenance.
“We put in new flooring not too long ago, because it was about ready to cave into the basement. All of the walls were also redone. What we were really shocked about was when we went to get it painted this time, to see all of the other issues we had with it on the outside with rotting boards, the roof was rotted out and none of the windows were glazed anymore. We decided to do it now, spend the money and get it done right.”
Currently on its third 10-year lease operating the Riley House, the Twinsburg Historical Society uses the Liberty Road structure as a meeting and gathering place. In addition, Tomko said, various other Summit County organizations book the Riley House for events and meetings.
“There aren’t many historical structures left in the city, unfortunately,” Tomko said.
The Twinsburg Historical Society restored another 19th century home recently, the Moses Roach House, built in 1873.
“This is another interesting story,” Tomko said. “Recently the city wanted to get rid of it. We talked them into selling the Roach House to us, which they did this past spring for $10. They gave us stipulations we had to have fixed in the next two years in order for us to keep it.”
Tomko said the historical society in September spent $10,000 to install wheelchair ramps and a new back porch at the Church Street home, which houses the Twinsburg Chamber of Commerce.
“Right now, the remaining stipulations involve water drainage around the foundation, the north wall is buckling and needs to be replaced, and we have to make sure that the sandstone foundation is all pointed and grouted correctly,” Tomko said. “That’ll be done in November at a cost of $18,000.
“All of this work is very important. It’s one of the few remaining century homes in the city. It sits right on the square and it’s right next to the Twinsburg Congregational Church, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. We’re in the process of getting the Roach House on the National Register of Historic Places as well. They just asked for more info. Once I get that to them, it looks pretty promising.”
Featured image photo caption: The Twinsburg Historical Society invested roughly $10,000 exterior restoration of the Riley House on Liberty Road.