Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, Akron, Ohio, has raised more than $488,000 to restore and reinstall the 1915 Aeolian organ in the music room. Nearly 400 donors contributed funds to restore the instrument and provide for a small maintenance fund for the years to come. Schantz Organ Company in Orville, Ohio completed the restoration in April. The project will be celebrated with an open house featuring Todd Wilson on Sunday, May 17, 1–4 pm. Tim Mann, vice-president marketing of Schantz, will also be available during the open house to answer questions about the restoration process.
The 65,000 square foot Stan Hywet Hall is the former estate of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founder F. A. Seiberling and his wife, Gertrude, and remains this country’s finest example of Tudor Revival architecture. The Aeolian organ at Stan Hywet comprises 2,670 pipes in 42 ranks located in the hall’s music room. The organ was played regularly at Stan Hywet Hall by both professional musicians and family members primarily during the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.
For information, contact Susan Van Vorst, V.P. Fund Development, 330/315-3216, or visit www.stanhywet.org.
