venango county homes 27

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27. Raymond � Egbert � Mullins Home Family Home

307 South Park - built by A.W. Raymond, then purchased by Albert Egbert, then purchased by Wm. and Elizabeth Mullins.

307 South Park Street is a lady with a secret. Behind the wrought iron fence lies a simple, rambling, solid masonry Italianate house. The Italianate Style came into being as a turning away from the Greek inspired formality of the Neoclassical era. Italianate houses are patterned after the houses of the Italian countryside with flattened hip roofs that weren�t built to shed heavy snow, wide overhanging eaves to shade the interior and heavy decorative brackets to show off the handsome cornice and roof. Overall the Italianate Style is rambling, softened and simple. 307 South Park Street has the plain Italianate walls with tall slender windows with segmental arches and a wide wooden porch with simple Italianate wood columns. But it is the triangular pediment on that Italianate porch roof that foreshadows the lady�s secret. Inside the porch the entrance itself is pure Greek. Fluted Corinthian acanthus-leaved pilasters on either side enclose the simpler Doric pilasters that seem to support the wide elliptical window above the double doors. Egg and dart molding above enhances the elegant effect. The four massive heavily corbelled chimneys and the dentils on the cornice echo the call to more decorous days gone by.

Small differences in the brick bond and cornice details suggest that the small addition to the rear was built some time after the original construction.

The residence was built in 1862 by A.W. Raymond. In 1869 the home was purchased by Dr. Albert G. and Eliza A. Egbert for $10,000. Dr. Egbert was born in 1828 in Sandy Lake Township, Mercer County. He received his medical degree from Western Reserve Medical College in Cleveland and opened a medical practice in Clintonville and later in Cherrytree. Dr. Egbert and his brother became involved with the oil business and were among the largest producers in the Petroleum Centre field. In 1882 Dr. Egbert was appointed to the Park Commission. During his term he took a great interest in the improvement and beautification of the two city parks. After his death in 1896, with urging from Joseph C. Sibley, the plans for a fountain to honor Dr. Egbert were put into motion. The beautiful Egbert Memorial fountain is the centerpiece for West Park. The Evening News of September 14th gives the following description: �The topmost figure on the sculptured iron column is a Venus, standing 25 feet above the pavement, in a bed of water lilies, holding a tilted jar, from which the water runs. There are three basins. From the lilies and cat-tails spring jets of water, falling into the first and smallest of the three basins. This basin rests upon the upholding figures of three cherubs, and from it the water falls into a second and larger basin, which discharges the water from the mouths of 12 lions, set in a rim of relief work, into the basement basin, which is 25 feet in diameter. Two water nymphs look out into the water and the entire work rises from a pedestal of solid granite with the inscription �1896� and �A.G. Egbert Memorial Fountain�.�

After the death of Dr. Egbert, his wife, the former Eliza Phipps, sold the house for $12,000. The Citizen�s Press, December 14, 1899 reports, �W.J. Mullins, Esq. on Saturday last, purchased the Egbert residence, fronting on South Park. This is one of the most desirable locations in the city. We understand that it is the intention of Mr. Mullins to make extensive alterations in the residence and beautify the ground the coming season.� Mr. Mullins was born in Steubenville, Ohio on August 21, 1860. His father was born in Ireland and came to the U.S. and followed the profession of railroad and canal building. William J. Mullins was reared in Pittsburgh and came to Franklin as a chemist for Standard Oil. In 1888 he married Elizabeth Johnson Bostwick. The couple raised three daughters and contributed greatly to the arts and cultural growth of the Franklin community. William Mullins died in 1917 after a bout with pneumonia and Elizabeth Mullins, who was born in 1867 in Corning, NY, died in 1958.

Contributed by: Penny Haylett Minnick with architectural remarks by Sally Kilmer
Letter Contributed by: Sheila Barr Helser