Places

Standford White was the star of the firm. His work included the second Madison Square Garden and the Washington Square Arch in New York City.

The actual designer of the Hanna home is unknown. Charles McKim retired in 1907. William Mead’s talent was more for running an office rather than designing.

Stanford White was murdered on the rooftop of Madison Square Garden in 1906 by the eccentric young millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw as a result of White’s affair with Thaw’s wife, model and chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit Thaw. Plagued by mental illness since childhood, Thaw was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The 1955 motion picture, “The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing,” starring Ray Milland as Stanford White and Joan Collins as Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, relates the fictionalized story of the murder.

The sensational love triangle was the inspiration for the 1975 historical novel “Ragtime,” written by E. L. Doctorow. The 1981 eight-time Oscar-nominated motion picture "Ragtime" based on the book, included fictionalized references to White and Thaw. There is a scene where White unveils a nude statue atop Madison Square Garden, modeled after former chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit, Thaw's wife. Convinced that White had corrupted Evelyn, Thaw publicly shot him.

The Hannas began construction of their thirty-room Jacobean Revival home in 1909. The brick, stone, and reinforced concrete 25,000 square-foot mansion was completed in 1910. It is one of the last surviving structures designed by the architectural firm that remains preserved in the greater Cleveland area.

Although the Tudor idiom was not typical of a firm whose favorite style was the Italian Renaissance, the exterior elevations of the Hanna house were very symmetrical and almost classical in effect. The central rectangular block of the house had a steep gabled roof parallel to the lakefront. As in most McKim, Mead & White buildings, the ornamental detail, especially in the interior, was handled with exquisite taste.

The interior had strong Italian influences, featuring wood paneling from Italy and Elizabethan leaded glass sidelights. An immense Italian Renaissance center entrance hall divided the first floor and led directly to the sunroom that overlooked a beautifully designed swimming pool and terrace.

To the west of the entrance was a magnificent staircase and also a parlor and music room. The staircase featured windows reaching to the high second-floor ceiling, adding light and grace to the hall. To the east were the library, dining room, and kitchen area. The kitchen area consisted of the preparation room, scullery rooms, refrigeration room, and servants dining room. The lavatories were off the library and kitchen area.

Molded or paneled ceilings detailed the main living areas.  Warm hues of natural walnut and oak with intricate carving by Italian artisans added to the grandeur. There were marble fireplaces throughout with wood trim and wood floors. The sun porch and serving rooms had quarry tile floors.

There was a door in the front hall that fits unobtrusively into the wood paneling leading to the servants’ area of the house, including the kitchen, the servants’ dining area, the back door, and the back stairs. The kitchen area generally had rubber tile or linoleum floors, painted plaster walls and ceilings, part tiled walls, porcelain, stainless sinks, and wood and glass cupboards.

The second floor contained six bedrooms and a sitting room with each bedroom having a bathroom, ample closet space, and a fireplace. All rooms were finished with painted plaster walls and ceilings and ornate wood trim. The baths were glazed tile and marble. A wood-paneled interior hallway with closets and built-in bookcases connected the rooms.

The third floor contained storage rooms, twelve bedrooms, and two lavatories. The bedrooms were of a dull finish, and each had a cedar closet. The bathrooms were glazed tile.

Storage, mechanical, and service rooms divided the basement. The finish was mostly painted brick walls and painted concrete ceilings and floors. The laundry room had a wood or concrete floor and a six-foot glazed tile wainscot. Mechanical equipment included two low-pressure steam boilers, a hot water boiler and an insulated storage tank, a pool heater and filter system, a vacuum system, a water softener, and air conditioning compressors.

A central vacuum system and central air conditioning made the house technically advanced for its time. There were buttons in all the rooms connected to a call board in the kitchen to summon servants. An automatic four-passenger elevator serviced all four floors that the servants used to carry heavy, unwieldy items to the upper floors.

Walter Maxim started as a gardener and caretaker shortly after the home was built and maintained the home year-round. His responsibilities included a dairy barn, a boathouse, and a swimming pool. Also included were a variety of domestic animals and plus the children’s zebra. Maxim worked on the estate for over fifty years and managed to put three children through graduate school. Walter died on March 31, 1964, at age 85.

Frederick L. and Lulu Ball acquired the estate on September 4, 1946, using the money from the funds received when Lakeland Freeway took a portion of his 9432 Lake Shore Boulevard estate. Ball liked to joke that the house was free since it was just a bank transfer.

The house had become a white elephant with nobody wanting it due to the cost of maintenance. Fred Ball had taken in boarders to help pay for the upkeep. The house was unlivable in winter, so he converted the coal-fired furnace to oil. A gas well on the property was sufficient for cooking and hot water, but not enough to heat the house.

Frederick J. and Ibby Ball acquired the mansion on February 9, 1970. They continued to take in boarders to help pay for the maintenance of their inherited estate. In 1978, Frederick held an auction at the home selling around two-hundred works by ninety of the area's top professional artists. The auction proceeds supported the new Organization for the Visual Arts.

Newport North Shore Development acquired the property on December 7, 1989, to become part of the 75-acre Newport Harbor development.  Included was the planned renovation of the former Hanna home.

John and Adele Domo acquired the manor house on January 1, 1991. The address was changed to 12 West Hanna Lane. Domo did a $1 million renovation and restoration of the home.

Thomas and Judith Embrescia acquired the home on January 29, 1999.

Jason and Lanee Lucarelli acquired the home on May 25, 2018.