KATEWOOD is a three-story 8,600 square-foot 27-room Shingle-style Victorian summer cottage located at 9511 Lake Shore Blvd. in BRATENAHL. It was the home of industrialist Albert Fairchild Holden, the son of LIBERTY EMERY HOLDEN, the owner of the PLAIN DEALER, who gave him Albert the eleven acre plot on which Katewood was built.
Architect, Alfred Hoyt Granger built the cottage in 1898. During construction of the cottage First Nation artifacts were unearthed. On 4 December 1900, Katherine Elizabeth Davis, Albert's wife, passed away and the estate was named “Katewood” in her honor.
The first floor of the cottage housed a foyer, dining room, kitchen, library, solarium, and living room. The second floor housed six bedrooms, a sitting room, and three bathrooms. The third floor was servant’s quarters and a ballroom. The home had two coal-fired furnaces in addition to numerous fireplaces.
Interior features included a fireplace mantle with a sideboard from the furnishings of the conqueror Cortez; the Mexican dictator, Porfirio Diaz gave the piece to Albert in appreciation for his development of Mexican gold and silver mines. Elegant plasterwork adorned the dining room ceiling. In the 1940s, murals were added over a set of French doors featuring scenes of the property. The home was equipped with a slide-in gas clothes dryer, a walk-in cold room for ice deliveries, and a secret closet to hold valuables.
The property included an Elizabethan knot garden, greenhouse, carriage house, cow barn, horse stable, and an icehouse. It could accommodate a staff of seven. Today the greenhouse and garage have a separate address: 9307 Lake Shore Blvd. A guest house was later built over the squash court.
Benefactress EMERY MAY HOLDEN and her diplomat husband, HENRY RAYMOND NORWEB took possession of Katewood from the CLEVELAND TRUST CO. on 22 November 1920. The Holden-Norweb family lived at Katewood for 86 years.
Michael D. Makinen acquired the estate from AMERITRUST on 18 December 1989. The house was chosen as the 1992 CUYAHOGA COUNTY UNIT OF THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY Designer Hope House. Today the historical estate is used as an Airbnb and event rental.
Angelina Bair
WRHS
Finding aid for the R. Henry Norweb Family Papers
Sources
Bratenahl Historical Society. Katewood File. (circ 1940 to 2000).
Christie’s. The Remaining Contents of Katewood. (1984).
Cleveland Museum of Art. English Gold Coins: From the Norweb Collection. (1968).