House in East Claridon photograph

Taken by Ihna Thayer Frary in 1935, this photograph shows a two-story house in East Claridon, Ohio, in Geauga County. The house is exemplary of the Classical Revival architectural style, as seen with the four engaged Ionic columns on the house's front facade. These columns are purely decorative, resembling ancient Greek temple architecture, and provide the illusion that they support the pediment above, which is trimmed with dental work. Two Ionic columns also frame the front entrance way. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1873, Ihna Thayer Frary was a prominent American art and architecture scholar, whose primary interest was the architectural heritage of the region of northeastern Ohio known as the Western Reserve. In addition to serving as publicity and membership secretary of the Cleveland Museum of Art, he was a professor of Ohio and American architecture at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Western Reserve University’s School of Architecture. Over the course of his career, Frary was a design consultant for private clients and designed furniture, and was an active member of several prominent arts councils in the Cleveland area. In 1963, Frary and his two sons donated his entire photographic collection to the Ohio Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection). The Ihna Thayer Frary Collection consists of 4,000 5 x 7 photographs of private residences, churches, taverns, and public buildings, as well as select rural buildings, bridges, archaeological sites, and public monuments