Places
Homes Current
9511 Lake Shore Boulevard "Katewood"
Plat No. 631-01-002
James and Clara Salisbury acquired the twelve-acre property from Mary Bratenahl on October 27, 1870.
Albert and Katherine Holden acquired the eleven and one-half acres east of the home of Albert's father, Liberty Holden, on June 7, 1899. The property that once was Liberty Holden's cow pasture extended to Louis Avenue with Lake Erie to the north and Salisbury Avenue to the south. Construction of an 8,600 square-foot Shingle-style summer cottage designed by Alfred Hoyt Granger began shortly thereafter.
Alfred Hoyt Granger, a native of Ohio, studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. A partnership of Granger with Frank B. Meade lasted from 1894 to 1897, after which Granger joined his brother-in-law, Charles Sumner Frost, in the firm of Frost & Granger in Chicago.
Frost & Granger designed two other Bratenahl residences: the Frederick Goff home at 9929 Lake Shore and the Frederick Root home at 11495 Lake Shore (12304 Coit Road).
Albert named his new home, Katewood, in honor of his wife. Other buildings on the property included an ice house, horse stable, and a cow barn.
Albert, Katherine, and their young daughters happily moved in, far from the soot and commercialism that had begun to drift over the grand homes of Euclid Avenue. It was a Victorian country house, with all shingles stained dark green. The elegant interior contrasted with the “cottage” understatement. The hall, the living room, and the dining room each had a fireplace. Three additional fireplaces were in the six bedrooms on the second floor, and two more on the third floor, all in addition to two coal-fired furnaces.
A house staff of seven used all the latest developments for housekeeping – a slide-in gas clothes dryer, and a walk-in cold room with ice delivery every other day.
Some features in the home were especially intriguing. The fireplace in the living room had a mantle over it that was the back of a sideboard. The mantle was part of the furnishing of the conqueror Cortez. It had come into the possession of the dictator of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz, at the turn of the century. The piece was given to Albert Holden in appreciation for the work he had done to develop Mexican gold and silver mines.
Sometime in the ,1940s, during the remodeling of the library, the murals over the French doors were painted with scenes of the property. The house was also reputed to have a ghost. Several people took it as a fact.
A mysterious feature of the house was a secret closet. Many homes built in the period had them because there were no banks or safe deposit boxes.
The Katewood garage and greenhouse were located at 9307 Lake Shore Boulevard.
Henry and Emery May Norweb took possession of Katewood from the Cleveland Trust Bank on November 22, 1920. On September 25, 1984, the remaining contents from Katewood and the estate of Emery May and Henry Norweb were auctioned on the premises by Christie’s of New York. This was not an ordinary yard sale. Some parked over a mile away took a shuttle to a large yellow and white tent that seated hundreds. About 1,200 people showed up for the auction.
Michael D. Makinen acquired Katewood from Ameritrust on December 18, 1989. Having sat empty for eight years, Katewood was on view as the 1992 Designer Hope House.