The Franklin Gate House – 9 on the plot map
The Franklin Gate House was originally built about 1913 to house Ernesto Grandelis, his wife Edith and his five children Mary, Albert, Edith, Henry, and Ernest. The original design consisted of a combination living/dining area and kitchen down stairs and three bedrooms upstairs. Can you imagine seven people sleeping in three tiny bedrooms? There was no apparent bath room.
Note: All of the images taken below were taken during the first half of 2013.
Click on an image to view it full size.
Front of the Franklin Gate House in the Spring of 2013. / Mark Moore
Front of the Franklin Gate House in the Spring of 2013 showing the pond and part of the original gate entrance to the left of the house. / Mark Moore
A close-up of the last remaining original gate. All of the others were stolen./ W. Passauer
A stone archway leads to the main entrance of the house. Shown is Mark Moore, the current owner./ W. Passauer
The main entrance. It is believed that neither door is original./ W. Passauer
Stone work at the front left of the house, just left of the archway shown above./ W. PassauerThe stone appears to be sandstone which is a different material that was used to build the Mansion, but the same material used to build the Manager’s House. The location of the source of the stone is currently unknown./ W. Passauer
A close-up of the original stone used as the entrance steps to the Franklin Gate House./ W. Passauer
Franklin Gate House roof detail 2013./ W. Passauer
The back side of the Franklin Gate House 2013./ W. Passauer
A close-up of the Franklin Gate House back side showing the initials (JCS) of Joseph C. Sibley placed into the cement with colored stone./ W. Passauer
