Gross Mansion Through the Years
When driving down 7th Street in Cambridge, a mansion on the hilltop catches the eye of locals and the breath of visitors. Gross Mansion has been a place of beauty for over 100 years. While most know where it is, few know the history of the first family to call it home.
When Charles F. Gross from Washington County was twenty-one back in 1868, he worked in the oil fields of Ohio, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. He saved his wages and began buying shares of The Hill Oil and Gas Company, which was based in Columbus, Ohio.
During this time, he met the love of his life, Harriett Allender from Clio, a town now underwater at Salt Fork Lake. They married and lived on Clark Street in Cambridge.
Hill Oil and Gas Co. had extensive holdings in Oklahoma and Texas. Charles increased his shares steadily until he had one-fifth interest. The Cushing Field in Oklahoma consisted of 6,000 acres and produced 20,000 barrels of oil a day. When Charles sold his interest for $12 million, he had enough money to purchase some land in 1916 and begin building a house. Charles was the only millionaire in town at that time.
Charles became an active member of the community. He served on the board of directors of The National Bank of Cambridge until his death in 1942. His funeral was held at the Gross Mansion.
Charles adored his wife, Harriett, and always tried to please her. Since Harriett had her heart set on having the nicest house in Cambridge, that was what Charles set out to accomplish. He purchased nearly a city block between Sixth and Seventh Streets in a residential area.
No cost was spared for this 12,000-square-foot home with 24 rooms. That was a mansion back in 1916. Even today it still shows qualities of richness with beautiful tile floors, walnut paneling, carved stone fireplaces, and a beautiful stairway with carved newel posts.
Situated in a park-like setting, a winding carriage lane wove through a beautiful landscape of flowers and trees. Harriett loved her flowers, especially her azalea bushes, and Charles relaxed by working in the garden, a special time for him. He also enjoyed hunting and had several prize hunting dogs.
During the years the Gross family lived at the mansion, many recall the elaborate parties and weddings that took place there. Harriett enjoyed entertaining and having teas with friends as she was so proud of her home. She must have enjoyed reading also as Charles had a beautiful library built just for her. He wanted to make her happy.
They had a daughter, also named Harriett, who attended 9th Street School. Teachers were served an annual dinner by the Gross Family. The children all remembered that day well since when the teachers went for their special lunch, school was dismissed for the rest of the day.
At Halloween, a friend who lived nearby remembered that trick-or-treaters, who were brave enough to approach the big house, were rewarded with a fifty-cent piece. She always planned a stop there!
Neighborhood children recalled seeing young Harriett riding her brown and white pony inside that tall fence around the mansion. That high fence had spikes all along the top of it to protect their only child. This happened shortly after the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. The Gross family feared that with their known oil well money, Harriet might be a target. They even had a hidden staircase built inside the house for easy escape and were most likely the first in town to have fire sprinklers in their home.
A personal memory as a young girl recalls my mother delivering fresh eggs and chickens, that she dressed that morning, to the back door of the mansion. Mom let me carry a couple dozen eggs while she took the chickens. Dad waited patiently in the car.
Their daughter Harriett had her wedding at Gross Mansion when she wed Howell Bates, an ensign in the Navy. Later Harriett and Howell, who then lived in New York, would be the ones to sell the mansion in 1958, after her mother died in an automobile accident, at a very low price to the Cambridge YMCA.
When the YMCA moved to new quarters at the old Cambridge High School, the building sat empty for a while. Some wanted to tear it down, but locals who knew the history worked hard to keep that from happening.
The house was purchased in recent years by Lynn Bernard, a lady from Florida who fell in love with Gross Mansion and has made many improvements to restore it to its original beauty with the help of her friend, Jeremiah Miller. They are active in the community where Jeremiah is the manager of CORT – Cambridge Ohio Relief for Tragedies – and often goes to assist areas in the country where they are having tragedies such as floods and hurricanes. He’s always an advocate for those in need.
They have an annual Easter Egg Hunt and Rosie’s Girls have a Prom Dress Giveaway at the mansion. Decorating for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas brightens up the area. Drive by the Gross Mansion at 703 N. 7th Street to enjoy all the improvements being made. Perhaps you’ll be fortunate enough to attend a party, tea, or reunion there and see its beauty.
How nice to see life at the Gross Mansion once again.
Gypsy Road Trip 