Marietta, Ohio · Est. 1835

House of SevenPorches

Built in 1835, this much-loved Greek Revival home has gathered nearly two centuries of Marietta stories.

Begin the story
The House of Seven Porches in soft autumn daylight

Contemporary view · Blue hour

Contemporary view · Autumn daylight

01Why seven porches?

A house made for the breeze.
A story carried through generations.

The symmetry catches your eye first. Then you begin to notice the fanlight high in the gable, columns rising two stories, windows that open like doors, and four side porches. Three more stretch across the back. Together, they gave the house its name.

Built
1835
Porches
07
Style
Greek Revival
Status
Private home

The story through time

Seven chapters in the life of one house.

Some parts of this story come from public records. Others come from the building itself or from families who lived here. We have labeled each one so you can see where it came from.

  1. 011834–1835

    Archival letters + historical reporting

    Allen, Post, and a new home

    Professor Diarca Howe Allen came to teach at the young college, and in 1835 a new brick home rose for him on Fifth Street. Post-family letters preserved at Marietta College, together with a 1956 local account, identify Truman Post as its builder. The house was part of an early hope to create a professors' row on the former Mills estate. That plan never fully took shape, though Post also built a brick home for Professor Samuel Maxwell nearby. The letters identify Post as the builder but do not give his exact role on the job.

    Restored nineteenth-century photograph of the House of Seven Porches behind a wooden fence and leafless trees
    An unidentified photographer's nineteenth-century view, preserved in the Stephen Durward Hoag Collection at Marietta College.
    Restored archival photograph showing the front and side porches of the House of Seven Porches
    Harry P. Fischer's view of the Rowena Buell home, cataloged 1899–1949 in Marietta College's Special Collections.
  2. 021840s–1890

    Deed indexes

    Between Allen and the Buells

    After Allen left Marietta in 1840, the trail grows faint. County deed indexes point toward Allen, Mills, and Cram in the decades that followed, then to the Cram estate and the Buell family. The deeds that could connect those names to this exact lot still await closer study. The house became the Buell family home in the late nineteenth century. By 1890, William H. Buell owned the property, and the city directory listed him at 331 Fifth Street. The house later passed to his daughter Rowena.

  3. 03The Buell years

    University records + county deed index

    The historian in the Buell House

    William's daughter Rowena brought her own deep interest in Marietta history to the family home. She earned her A.B. from the University of Chicago in 1898 and, in 1903, compiled and annotated a major collection of Rufus Putnam's memoirs, official papers, and correspondence. A 1910 university alumni directory places her at 331 Fifth Street. A 1918 Marietta Historical Commission publication lists her as a sustaining member, and in 1928 she signed a Campus Martius deed as one of four trustees representing four local organizations. In 1944, Rowena transferred the property to J. Herbert Otto, closing the long Buell chapter.

  4. 041944–1962

    Deed index + census + affidavit

    The Ottos and the Kelso connection

    Six years after the Buell-to-Otto transfer, the 1950 census records John Herbert Otto, his wife Jeannette, and their fifteen-year-old daughter Janet at 331 Fifth Street. Jeannette's son, Kenneth Lynn Kelso, was John's stepson. A 1962 deed kept the house in Jeannette's care for the rest of her life, with ownership passing afterward to Lynn and his wife, Jeane Wilson Kelso.

  5. 05The Kelso years

    Family recollections

    Tea by candlelight and a faster slide

    Jeane Wilson Kelso welcomed bed-and-breakfast guests while Janet Grams was restoring and operating Larchmont. The two women shared guests and helped one another with the demanding work of preservation. Family memories preserve the smaller details too: Jeane serving tea by candlelight and, as her daughter Jane Kelso Winter recalled, handing children wax paper to make the old metal garden slide faster.

    The house at dusk with warm luminaria lining the brick walk
    A contemporary photograph echoing the warmth remembered from the hospitality years.
  6. 06The restoration

    Published interview + homeowner account

    “The bones were good.”

    By the time the Ditchendorfs took on the house, it needed serious care. They updated the utilities, repaired the interior, rebuilt the unsafe rear porches, restored the carriage house, and saved as much of the original house as they could. The former carriage house was adapted as a private guest house.

    Daylight view of the restored carriage house beside the main house, surrounded by mature trees and garden plantings
    Tucked beside the main house, the restored carriage house has been adapted as a private guest house.
  7. 07Since 2023

    Public record + homeowner account

    A preservation story continues

    In 2023, Janet Grams, former owner and restorer of Larchmont, purchased the House of Seven Porches as her home and next preservation project. Her connection to the house reaches back to the Kelso hospitality years, and that shared history continues to guide its care.

    The house seen from the brick street at winter dusk, surrounded by luminaria
    A house still lived in, photographed from the public street.

A closer look

What makes the house special?

Its Greek Revival facade feels formal at first, but the porches were made for everyday life: shade on warm afternoons, air moving through open windows, and room to sit and talk.

Straight-on daylight view of the symmetrical house facade and semicircular brick drive
Contemporary front view, including the semicircular brick drive. The numbered notes point out the details you can see; the side jib doors in note 3 are around the corner and out of view.
  1. 1

    The fanlight

    A half-round window sits at the center of the front gable, turning the roofline into a quiet focal point.

  2. 2

    Doric columns

    Two-story columns give the side galleries their Greek Revival rhythm without hiding the brick facade.

  3. 3

    Jib doors on the side

    Not visible in this front view, these floor-length side windows have operable lower panels that could turn the openings into passageways.

  4. 4

    Four beside the house, three across the back

    Four side porches are visible from the street. The National Register inventory records three stacked galleries across the rear.

  5. 5

    The semicircular brick drive

    After purchasing the house in 2023, Janet Grams added the drive to make everyday access easier while keeping the historic facade at the center of the view. Existing bricks were cleaned and reused around it, helping the new work feel at home in the landscape.

Beyond the front

The seven porches come into view.

These contemporary photographs show two porch levels along each side and three galleries across the rear.

Night view of a side elevation with the three rear galleries visible in profile
Side viewA side elevation at night, with the three rear galleries visible in profile.
Evening view of the three-level rear porch arrangement
Rear viewThe three-level rear porch arrangement, seen on a winter evening.

4 in the side galleries3 stacked at the rear7 porches

Part of historic Marietta

A piece of Marietta's shared history.

The house stands within the Marietta Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The original nomination records details easy to miss at first glance: Flemish-bond brickwork, a cut-sandstone foundation, louvered shutters, sandstone lintels and sills, and fanlights centered in both pediments.

Its National Register recognition comes as part of the historic district rather than as a separate listing.

Through the years

Nearly two centuries of life on Fifth Street.

  1. 01

    Truman Post is documented in Washington County by spring after leaving Cornwall, Vermont.

  2. 02

    The house is built for Professor Diarca Howe Allen.

  3. 03

    After six years in Marietta, Allen accepts a call to teach at Lane Theological Seminary.

  4. 04

    County deed indexes point from Allen toward Mills and Cram, with later entries involving the Cram estate and the Buell family.

  5. 05

    William H. Buell owns the house and is listed at 331 Fifth Street.

  6. 06

    His daughter Rowena Buell is listed at the family home at 331 Fifth Street.

  7. 07

    Rowena Buell signs a Campus Martius deed as one of four trustees representing local historical organizations.

  8. 08

    Rowena Buell transfers the property to J. Herbert Otto.

  9. 09

    The federal census records John and Jeannette Otto and their daughter Janet at 331 Fifth Street.

  10. 10

    The house remains with Jeannette Otto for life, then passes to Lynn and Jeane Wilson Kelso.

  11. 11

    The National Register nomination records it as the Lynn Kelso residence.

  12. 12

    A published interview details the preservation work completed by the Ditchendorfs.

  13. 13

    Janet Grams, former owner and restorer of Larchmont, purchases the house as her home and next preservation project.

Good questions

A few things visitors often ask.

The short answers are here. The rest of the site takes you deeper into the people, architecture, and memories behind them.

Why is it called the House of Seven Porches?
Four porches line the two sides of the house, and three more are stacked across the rear. Together, they make seven.
When was the house built?
The house was built in 1835 and is associated with Professor Diarca Howe Allen, an early member of the Marietta College faculty.
Who was Diarca Howe Allen?
Diarca Howe Allen was a Dartmouth graduate and Andover-trained educator who helped establish the school that became Marietta College. He married Sarah E. Howe in March 1834 and came to Marietta soon afterward. He taught mathematics and natural philosophy, then rhetoric and political economy, before leaving for Lane Theological Seminary in 1840.
Is Truman Post the builder?
Yes. Historical evidence identifies Truman Post as the builder of Professor Allen's house. The Tallow Light, vol. 53, no. 4 (2022), brings together 1910 Post-family correspondence and a 1956 Marietta Daily Times account tying the Allen house to 331 Fifth Street. The letters do not give Post's exact role on the job.
Who was Truman Post?
Truman Post was a farmer from Cornwall, Vermont, documented in Washington County by spring 1834. College records list him as steward in 1835 and 1838. By 1844 he had acquired land near Waverly, Illinois, where he established a farm home and lived until his death in 1847. He was the great-grandfather of Marjorie Merriweather Post.
What did a college steward do in 1838?
Marietta College described a steward who directed and paid students doing farm and trade work, including carpentry, bricklaying, and plastering. That gives useful context for Truman Post's skills and responsibilities, though the records do not tell us whether students worked on this house.
What is the Post cereal connection?
The connection is genealogical, not a business connection to the house. The documented family line runs from builder Truman Post to Charles Rollin Post, then to cereal entrepreneur C.W. Post and his daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Who was Rowena Buell, and did she own the house?
Yes. Rowena Buell owned the house and transferred it to J. Herbert Otto in 1944. The house had previously belonged to her father, William H. Buell. Rowena earned her University of Chicago A.B. in 1898, compiled and annotated a 1903 collection of Rufus Putnam's papers, and supported Marietta historical work.
Who lived at 331 Fifth Street in 1950?
The April 22, 1950 federal census records John Herbert Otto, his wife Jeannette Chamberlain Otto, and their fifteen-year-old daughter, Janet Herbert Otto, at 331 Fifth Street.
Can visitors tour the house?
Not at this time. The House of Seven Porches is a private residence and does not offer tours. Visitors are welcome to appreciate it from public sidewalks while respecting the people who live there.
Is it individually listed on the National Register?
The house contributes to the Marietta Historic District, which joined the National Register in 1974, rather than holding a separate National Register listing.

The sourcebook

What we know, and what we're still learning.

Homeowner Janet Grams helped gather the records and memories behind this history. Deed indexes, census schedules, institutional archives, family records, the historical marker, and published reporting each illuminate a different part of the story.

Supported by records and published history

What the records tell us

  • The 1835 date and the house's connection to Professor Allen
  • Truman Post's 1834 Washington County presence
  • Post's 1835 and 1838 service as the college steward
  • The historical evidence identifying Post as the house's builder
  • The Buell family's ownership, including Rowena's 1944 transfer to J. Herbert Otto
  • The Otto family's residence at 331 Fifth Street in the 1950 census
  • The house's 1962 transition from the Otto household to the Kelso family
  • The seven-porch arrangement and historic materials
  • The house's place in Marietta's historic district

Still being researched

Questions we are still exploring

  • Can the full nineteenth-century deeds give us exact dates for the path from Allen through Mills and Cram into the Buell family?
  • Which deed or probate record shows how the house passed from William H. Buell to his daughter Rowena, and when?
  • What more can Deed Volume 226, page 36 and Volume 340, page 631 tell us about the Buell, Otto, and Kelso transitions?
  • What was Truman Post's exact role on the building job?
  • How does the 1910 recollection of work “about 1838” fit the established 1835 date?
  • When did the “Seven Porches” nickname enter common use?
  • Which architectural features are original fabric?

Selected references

  1. 011974 National Register nominationThe official district inventory records the house, materials, and seven-porch configuration.
  2. 02Historical Marker DatabaseThe 1835 date, Allen attribution, and Buell/Kelso names recorded on the physical marker.
  3. 03The Marietta TimesA 2019 interview documenting jib openings and the Ditchendorf restoration.
  4. 04Dartmouth LibrariesThe alumni record confirms Allen’s education and academic appointments.
  5. 05Henry Smith’s memorial of D. Howe Allen (1871)A near-contemporary account of Allen’s education, marriage, move to Marietta, early college work, anti-slavery convictions, and later service at Lane Seminary.
  6. 06Diarca Howe Allen frontispiece (1871)The original plate is signed “F. E. Jones, Cin.”; period and Library of Congress records identify the engraver as Fitz Edwin Jones.
  7. 07Cincinnati directory entry for Fitz Edwin Jones (1858)Printed page 137 lists Fitz Edwin Jones as an engraver at 148 Main Street, tying the full name and occupation to Cincinnati.
  8. 08Library of Congress record for Fitz Edwin JonesThe Library of Congress catalogs another period plate signed “F. E. Jones” under the engraver’s full name.
  9. 09Marietta College biographical record (1928)The college’s biographical record confirms Allen’s teaching appointments from 1835 through 1840 and traces his later career.
  10. 101834 Washington County memorialA congressional document places Truman Post among Washington County citizens during the spring of 1834.
  11. 11Marietta College name citationsThe American Antiquarian Society index identifies Post as steward in college publications from 1835 and 1838.
  12. 121838 Marietta College catalogueThe catalogue explains that the steward directed student work in farming and several building trades.
  13. 13University of Chicago alumni directory (1910)The directory places graduate Rowena Buell at 331 Fifth Street.
  14. 14Rowena Buell’s Rufus Putnam collection (1903)The title page credits Buell with compiling and annotating this major collection of Putnam’s papers.
  15. 15Ohio Attorney General Opinion 2116 (1928)The opinion names Buell as one of four trustees in the Campus Martius deed transaction.
  16. 16Washington County grantee index (1944)The March 29 entry records Rowena Buell’s transfer of the property to J. Herbert Otto and points to Deed Volume 226, page 36. Its Block 42 lot references align with the house’s later legal description.
  17. 171950 U.S. Census, ED 84-42Sheet 13 records John H. Otto, Jeannette C. Otto, and Janet H. Otto at 331 Fifth Street.
  18. 18Yale record for John Herbert OttoThe university record supplies the family’s full names, identifies Lynn Kelso as John’s stepson, and documents John’s education and work.
  19. 19Washington County affidavit (1987)The recorded affidavit recounts a 1962 deed that kept the house with Jeannette Otto for life, then passed it to Lynn and Jeane Wilson Kelso.
  20. 20Janet Otto Falk obituary (2025)The family obituary recalls the move from Walnut Hills Farm to Fifth Street and follows Janet’s later life.
  21. 21Post family biography and genealogyFamily records, letters, and land research document Post’s Vermont, Marietta, and Illinois years.
  22. 22The Tallow Light, vol. 53, no. 4 (2022)William J. Showalter’s article, pages 94 through 101, reproduces excerpts from the 1910 Post-family letters and cites the 1956 newspaper account behind the builder attribution.
  23. 23Harry P. Fischer photograph of the Rowena Buell homeMarietta College’s record identifies the archival cover view as Fischer’s photograph of 331 Fifth Street, cataloged 1899–1949 in the Harry Philip Fischer Collection.
  24. 24Washington County AuditorThe county sales report records Janet Grams’s purchase of the property in July 2023.

Also consulted: The House of Seven Porches: Ownership History & Heritage, supplied and revised by current homeowner Janet Grams. Her recollections add context to the Kelso hospitality years, her preservation work at Larchmont, and her purchase of the House of Seven Porches in 2023.

See how the history was checked

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The House of Seven Porches viewed from across the brick street at dusk

A note for visitors

A private home with a public story.

The House of Seven Porches is a private residence and does not offer tours. If you visit the neighborhood, please enjoy the view from the public sidewalk and respect the people who call it home. Exterior photography is welcome from the sidewalk. We hope this site gives you a welcoming look at the history inside.

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