Ransom M. Sanford House

This beautiful old house has a cross gable design with symmetrical window placement. The Eastlake style front door is recessed off a side porch facing front. Sheathed in wooden lap clapboard, the house has gabled windows surrounded with overlaid carved scroll patterns, and a porch with Italianate columns. The chimney, older than the balloon framing of the house, was probably built for cast iron stoves for heating and cooking, which was popular after the Civil War. The original foundation is ceramic tiles readily available in Summit County from the 1870s until 1920 when this material became out of favor.

Land ownership of the property reads like a historical lesson of how the early prominent settlers like David Hudson, Heman Oviatt, Owen Brown, the Rev. William Hanford, Harlow Davis, George Kilbourn and Sylvester Baldwin purchased, divided, and deeded land. Confusing at times because the deeds often referred to stakes, piles of stone or hill ridges, tax records reflect the rises and drops of the economy of early Hudson. Eventually, the lot at 94 Aurora Street had a carpentry shop. It was torn down in 1887 when Ransom Sanford, also a carpenter and joiner, built this home on an adjoining side lot. Ransom and his wife, Mary, had four boys.

Early occupants of the house are unknown, but son Charles and his wife, Jennie, lived there until 1909. In 1888, Ransom bought the land just east and built a more elaborate home. At one time, Sanfords occupied homes at 90, 94 and 98 Aurora Street.