Visiting The Stone House Museum

A few weeks ago we traveled to West Virginia to visit with my Dad, sister and her family.  We like to go on little mini-vacations with Dad, so The Farmer, Dad and I headed over to the Winterset and Cambridge, Ohio, area.

Dad wanted to drive through Winterset to see if he could find the farm where one set of his grandparents lived, but although we went through the town two or three times and traveled several side roads, we couldn't locate it.  I'm afraid too much time had passed and there were too many changes.

We did see this flock of sheep on our way into town, however.

Since I like sheep, they really caught my eye.

Another thing that caught my eye as we drove through town was this unique building at a local greenhouse.

I guess you could say they went to pot in a really BIG way!  I thought it was a rather clever idea to make a building look like a huge clay flowerpot though.

Since we couldn't find the farm Dad was looking for, we headed to Salt Fork State Park, where we planned to stay the night.  On the drive into the park, we were greeted by a groundhog.  He seemed unconcerned to see us go by.

We decided to check out the Stone House Museum located in Salt Fork State Park.  Built in 1837, the Kennedy Stone House was home to several generations of Kennedy descendants ending with the great-grandson of the builder, Don Kennedy, who occupied it until 1966.

Being Celtic immigrants, the Kennedy clan brought with them memories of the stone cottages and castles common to Scotland.  Since there is sandstone in abundance in the foothills of the Appalachians, their home reflected this Scotch-Irish influence on early American architecture and was created entirely from stone.

The state of Ohio purchased the Kennedy property and surrounding lands to create Salt Fork State Park, which is obviously how the house got to be part of the park. 

The house was built from locally-quarried stone cut into 3' x 1' x 1' blocks.  Because of its unique and enduring construction, the house is listed in the National Register of Historic places.  It sits back in a lovely wooded area, nestled among the surrounding hills. 

Then in 1967, the valley below the house was impounded to create Salt Fork Reservoir, so today the house overlooks the lake created then.

When you drive up to the house, one of the first things you come to is an outhouse.

Well, after all, it's a necessary part of living!

We were also greeted by the sight of another flock of sheep on top of a hillside behind the house.

These didn't move around much.  I think they were a little bored (board?).  Did you notice one little sheep in front splintered off from the rest?

On the hillside below the sheep, there was a little building with some honeysuckle growing up the side.

The Farmer tried to peek in-between the cracks to see what was in there, but couldn't really see much.

There was also a bell down the hill from the flock of wooden sheep. (And who wooden like such cute sheep?)

Dad took a picture of "The Amos Bell" which once hung in a one room schoolhouse in Guernsey County.  It was saved from destruction by the Amos family who placed it in their garden.  Later the bell was moved to the Stone House property in honor of Robert Woodrow and Hannah McCleary Amos of Cambridge, Ohio, to honor their efforts in the preservation of the Stone House.

One of the first things we noticed at the house was  a bulletin board with a lot of pictures showing the house at various times in its' history.

We peeked in through one of the windows to check out the interior.

I noticed a couple more sheep were in the house. But then, I notice sheep wherever I go!

It was hard to get a good picture since the room was dim and they were against a brightly lit window, but I couldn't resist trying.

We also checked out the big root cellar.

It's huge!  You could put a whole lot of food in there!  Of course, a root cellar was an important part of preserving foods for the winter before people had electricity readily available.

Dad and The Farmer walked along the bank in front of the house to check out the view.  The Salt Fork Reservoir is lovely.

All along the front of the house, there is a stone retaining wall.  The Farmer decided to take a rest and lean on it for a while.

It was an interesting place to visit.  As we were leaving, I took one last picture, this time of the weathervane.

If you're ever in the area, it's worth checking out the Stone House Museum.  We enjoyed our visit!

Tagged as: Cambridge Ohio, groundhog, root cellar, Salt Fork State Park, sheep, Stone House Museum, weathervane, wildlife, Winterset Ohio