Exploring the Historic Frazee House in Valley View

Valley View, Ohio

If you’ve driven down Canal Road through Valley View, right along the side of the Ohio-Erie Canal and towpath trail, then you’ve probably come across the Frazee House. It stands out for several reasons, including the fact that a parking lot for Cuyahoga Valley National Park visitors is right next to the building.

Frazee House Architecture

Another reason why the Frazee house stands out? There aren’t a lot of brick, Federal-Style buildings left, let alone one that’s noted to be one of the two oldest former brick homes in this part of the Cuyahoga Valley.

Built from handmade bricks, along with sandstone window sills, there are no keystones or stone lintels around the tops of the doors and windows, which you’d normally see in a house of this style. Instead, the 1826 building has bricks laid vertically in those spaces.

The Frazee house consists of two floors, along with a one-story addition on the side in the back that dates to a time currently unknown. The main part of the building also has the typical gabled parapet in the stepped style at the sides, along with two chimneys.

Unfortunately, the interior of the house currently isn’t available for viewing, but you can walk around it and take in all of the interesting details, such as the visible tool marks on the sandstone window sills.

The Frazee Family

According to the records, the Frazee family moved to the area in 1812. Stephen Frazee and his wife Mehabitable moved to what is now Valley View (then a part of Independence) from Poland, Ohio. They purchased almost 200 acres of land, but lost some a decade later due to the construction of the canal. The family received a one-time payment of $130 from the government as a settlement.

Although the family appears on the 1852 and 1858 maps (1852 is shown above), the family’s name is misspelled. The 1858 map is below:

In all, Stephen and Mehitable had seven children, one of whom, Lucinda, staying in the area and married a neighbor, Eliphlet Wyatt. On top of farming, the Frazee family took advantage of the nearby canal, turning part of their home into a tavern for those traveling north and south.

In 1861, upon the death of Mehitable, the family sold the home to the Hynton family, as seen on the 1874 map above. It remained in that family for quite some time before being acquired by members of the Foote family.

One of them, Agnes Foote, owned the property when an application to the National Register was sent in. This was in 1976, around the time that the National Park was formed. The park obtained the property shortly afterwards, preserving it for all time.