Marietta, Ohio · Est. 1835
Built in 1835, this much-loved Greek Revival home has gathered nearly two centuries of Marietta stories.
Begin the story
Contemporary view · Blue hour
Contemporary view · Autumn daylight
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.
The story through time
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.
Archival letters + historical reporting
Professor Diarca Howe Allen came to teach at the young college, and in 1835 a new brick home rose for him on Fifth Street. Letters preserved at Marietta College, together with later local reporting, 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 leave one detail open: whether Post served as foreman, contractor, or in another role.
Architectural interpretation
Two levels of porches line both sides of the house, and three more stretch across the back. Tall windows, described by a former owner as jib doors, could open directly onto the lower porches. On warm days, the house could fill with light and moving air.
Marker record
The house has had all seven porches from the beginning, but the name people used for it changed with its owners. Generations knew it as the Buell House. The roadside marker traces the story from Allen to the Buells and then to the Kelsos, each family lending its name to the place.
Homeowner recollection + family history
Family history remembers the Kelso years as a season of bed-and-breakfast hospitality. Jeane Wilson Kelso welcomed guests here while Janet Grams was restoring and operating Larchmont, another of Marietta's historic homes. The two women shared guests between the houses and helped one another in the demanding work of preservation. One family story recalls Jeane serving tea by candlelight, a small ritual that still feels at home here.
Oral recollection
One childhood memory outlived the old metal slide in the sloping back garden: children were handed wax paper to make the ride faster. Jane Kelso Winter, who grew up here, later remembered that the trick was her mother's idea.
Published interview + homeowner account
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 has since been adapted as a private guest house.
Public record + homeowner account
In 2023, Janet Grams, former owner and restorer of Larchmont, purchased the House of Seven Porches as her next home and preservation project. Her connection to the house reaches back to its Kelso-era hospitality years. Today, that experience guides the thoughtful care of another much-loved Marietta home and the sharing of its story with a wider community.
A closer look
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.
A half-round window sits at the center of the front gable, turning the roofline into a quiet focal point.
Two-story columns give the side galleries their Greek Revival rhythm without hiding the brick facade.
Not visible in this front view, these floor-length side windows have operable lower panels that could turn the openings into passageways.
Four side porches are visible from the street. The National Register inventory records three stacked galleries across the rear.
Added during the current preservation chapter, the drive makes 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
These contemporary photographs show the arrangement as it appears today: two porch levels on each side and three more across the rear.
Part of historic Marietta
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.
The house contributes to the historic district, but it is not separately listed on the National Register. We make that distinction so the record stays clear.
Through the years
Truman Post is documented in Washington County by spring after leaving Cornwall, Vermont.
The house is built for Professor Diarca Howe Allen.
Allen leaves Marietta College for Lane Theological Seminary.
A city directory lists W. H. Buell at the Fifth Street property.
An alumni directory still places Rowena Buell at the address.
The National Register nomination records it as the Lynn Kelso residence.
A published interview details the preservation work completed by the Ditchendorfs.
Janet Grams, former owner and restorer of Larchmont, purchases the house as her next home and preservation project.
Good questions
The short answers are here. The rest of the site takes you deeper into the people, architecture, and memories behind them.
Contemporary photographs
The sourcebook
The current homeowner helped gather the records and memories behind this history. Institutional archives, the historical marker, and published reporting help place each story in context.
Supported by records and published history
Still being researched
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 earlier preservation work at Larchmont, and the house's present chapter.
See how the history was checkedKeep the story growing
The story of this house has been shaped by neighbors, former residents, family photographs, and careful research. We would be glad to hear from you if you have a memory to add, a question to ask, or represent a local business interested in supporting this digital history as a site sponsor.
Have a photograph or document? Tell us what you have, and we'll follow up with the best way to send it.
A note for visitors
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.
