The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Enduring, evolving
St. Hubert’s in Kirtland Hills has moved — more than once in more than a century — and boasts a recent makeover
Attention to detail has been a hallmark of the months-long renovation at the 125-year-old St. Hubert’s Episcopal Church in Kirtland Hills.
The old wooden pews, for instance, were raised up and inch-and-a-half with extra inches added between them.
“People are taller now than they used to be, and this makes it more comfortable,” said Denise Miller, ministry coordinator.
Originally established in 1893 as the Church of the Transfiguration and built on top of Little Mountain, as its congregation moved so did the church. It’s also been along the shore of Lake Erie and beside the Chagrin River, where it is today on Baldwin Road in Kirtland Hills. Each time it was moved it was disassembled, its pieces numbered and moved before being reassembled.
Families with deep Lake County roots and names such as Gale, Bolton, Hitchcock, Baldwin and Garfield attended that church, and many of their descendants still do.
The most recent change for St. Hubert’s Episcopal Church doubled its size without compromising the character of the riverside building in a setting so pretty it could be a Christmas card. That renovation, which is nearing completion, debuted a few weeks ago in an open house for the community.
A church history was compiled to show its journeys and the people critical to its place in Lake County.
Begun in 1893, the original church was designed by Wilbur Hall and built by William Reynolds to serve the summer community on top of Little Mountain. Stained-glass windows, imported from Munich, Germany, were given by congregation members.
Hotels and cottages on the cool mountaintop were the summertime destination for families of wealthy Clevelanders escaping the smoky city during the warm-weather months, said Kathie Purmal, operations manager for the Lake County History Center.
They would take the interurban railroad from Cleveland, get off at what is now Mentor Avenue and Little Mountain Road and be met by a horse-drawn carriage to take them a few miles to the top of Little Mountain. There entire Cleveland families would
settle in for the summer. Men who needed to work in the city could return there in just a few hours.
Soon they began to buy land and establish farms in the Kirtland countryside and the appeal of a cottage on Little Mountain was diminished, Purmal said.
After a fire leveled one of the Little Mountain hotels, people no longer were coming to the area. The little church stood vacant, even in the summer, so the founding Episcopal bishop, the Right Rev. William A. Leonard, decided in 1916 to move it to Salida Beach in what is now Mentor-on-the-Lake. That was a summer recreational facility owned by Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral, according to the church history.
But it, too, was abandoned in 1925, so the church was moved again. To do that, it was taken apart piece by piece, with each board numbered so it could be reassembled.
The church was moved to Baldwin Road on a delightful spot on a curve of the East Branch of the Chagrin River. Architect Edward G. Reed designed the paneling on the walls, the steeple, entrance porch, sacristy, altar, robing room and sanctuary rails. Leonard re-dedicated the church in 1929 as St. Hubert’s Chapel, in honor of the patron saint of hunters.
Stained-glass windows from the original glassworks in Munich were added to the back of the chapel.
Although it had a new name, St. Hubert’s remained a summer chapel, Church in Willoughby were in charge.
By 1971, many church goers had become fulltime residents of the area and wanted a year-round church. The Rev. James Johnston resigned from Grace and became the fulltime priest for St. Hubert’s.
The church was last renovated in 1998 to add six pews in the sanctuary, enlarge the rector’s office and the Sunday School room, add a reception room, business office, small kitchen, and sacristy and build a lovely riverside terrace.
Rector since 2001 has been the Rev. Daniel Holt Schoonmaker, affectionately known as Dan to the parishioners, which now number 150 families.
The most recent capital campaign raised enough to double the physical size of the church. The expansion, which began in June, was planned by architect T. Michael Tomsik and constructed by Nyman Construction Co. SWB Landscaping is now putting finishing touches on the grounds, and a new organ is expected to arrive any day.
The congregation recently hosted an open house to show off its new spaces, which include offices, a servery (kitchen) and the expansion of other areas, as well as a new roof and flooring. Windows, across the entire rear of the building, overlook a patio and seem to make the river a part of the church.
Originally established in 1893 as the Church of the Transfiguration and built on top of Little Mountain, as its congregation moved so did the church. It’s also been along the shore of Lake Erie and beside the Chagrin River, where it is today on Baldwin Road in Kirtland Hills. Each time it was moved it was disassembled, its pieces numbered and moved before being reassembled.