The Dead are grateful: Campouts, concerts and restorations breathe new life into historic Farnam Manor

by Jacqueline Mitchell

Richfield residents may remember a couple of days in June when usually quiet Farnam Manor was teeming with cars, RVs, tents and people in tie-dye setting up camp on each side of the street.

The historic 1834 home at 4223 Brecksville Rd. played host to almost 500 “Deadheads” who attended the Dead & Company concert at Blossom Music Center June 20.

The campout was the second of its kind at Farnam Manor since Kathleen Magner and her husband Tim took over caretaking duties, the first being last year.

But the Grateful Dead tradition in Richfield – and at the Farnam Manor – dates back far longer.

“It’s been happening at this place for years,” Kathleen Magner said. “The Grateful Dead campers are part of the history of this place, because when the Richfield Coliseum was still in existence, the Grateful Dead played there many times, and this place was like a party house back then.”

Magner has heard longtime residents reminiscing about those days.

“We hear stories that all of the Deadheads from the concert would come over to this place and camp,” she said.

Last year’s Dead & Company-inspired campout was booked through Airbnb, where the manor is listed as an event and party venue. Magner said she had no idea what to expect. But they had such a good experience, the Magners decided to host the campout this year as a fundraiser for the manor’s nonprofit counterpart, the Farnam Foundation, which they created in 2007. It raised over $5,000.

The manor doesn’t have plumbing and still needs many repairs, so everyone camped outside.

“They just bring this peace and love,” said Magner. “I have never in my life seen so many hugs and so many smiles in one place at one time.”

After the concert, everyone returned to the manor, where Dead Ahead Ohio, a local Grateful Dead tribute band, performed on a stage in the backyard. Attendees danced, celebrated the summer solstice and watched the sunrise before going to sleep. By 1 p.m., Magner said, there was no trace that anyone had been there.

Many Grateful Dead fans are travelers at heart, she explained, and follow the band wherever it plays. Campers came from California, North Carolina, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida, among other locations. A few were local. The foundation posted the campout on Facebook, but Magner said she thinks the turnout was largely due to word-of-mouth.

Magner’s son, Aaron Dykes, who moved to Richfield this year to help care for the property, took campers to local landmarks like Daffodil Trail and the Richfield Heritage Preserve. In turn, the campers shared their art and music. Some taught tai chi and yoga.

“This is a turnpike town,” Dykes said. “People drive by so fast, in two seconds. These travelers got to actually stick around a minute and experience Richfield.”

Magner was never a Grateful Dead fan, but when the campers came, she started noticing the band’s lyrics and said she feels a spiritual connection to the words.

“There’s one that really drew me,” she said. “The lyric says, ‘Let’s consult the spirits. Maybe they’ll know what to do.’ And that’s the way we’ve been operating around here for the last 10-15 years; we know the spirits are in control. So that just cracked me up. We believe that the dead are grateful here for what we’re doing. You know, it’s a very spiritual place.”

Angels, not ghosts

Whispers of hauntings have long been associated with Farnam Manor. Magner said it started in 1858, when Emily Farnam, the 6-year-old daughter of original property owners Everett and Emily Farnam, fell into the cistern and drowned.

“People always call this place haunted,” she said. “But the bumps in the night have transformed into something much more beautiful. This place is so full of love and angels. We’ve always promoted it as being angels.”

Magner keeps crystals and divining rods on hand, which she said she uses to communicate with the spirits. She described young Emily’s spirit as “very playful.”

“Mysterious Midwest,” a paranormal documentary series, filmed an episode at the manor in 2012.

“We never had any of those big ghost [TV shows], because they put fake stuff into it,” said Magner. “And we always went on the premise of having everything be real here. They also put the fear factor into it, where that’s not what Farnam Manor is about.

“These are angels here. They don’t want us to be afraid, and we don’t want people to be afraid of the spirits.”

Discovering the property

Magner came to Richfield from Norton about 16 years ago when she married Tim, and they unknowingly moved into a property that had been on the original Farnam estate. Tim, an architect, had plans for a luxury home development on the land.

That changed when they found a book written by the man that built their house, Bill Ellis.

“He had written a very good history about the Farnams,” said Magner. “So we found his book and read it, and we learned that our land was part of this.”

Tim’s vision completely flipped from development to preservation once they found out about the 3,200-acre estate’s history.

“Ever since, we’ve been trying to preserve it as nature,” Magner said.

When they stumbled on the manor, the house was in foreclosure, and there was speculation it was going to be demolished, with storage units built in its place. That sparked the creation of the foundation, and the Magners secured a lease on the place.

“We felt how devastating it would be if this piece of history was gone,” Magner said.

Eventually, the Magners assembled the foundation’s board: President Richard Fleming and Vice President Linda Fleming of Richfield and Treasurer Dick Wagner, a former resident.

Getting funds

Kathleen and Tim tried to get financing for the building but experienced difficulty because it was in need of so many repairs.

“We had to go a kind of roundabout way to get the money,” Kathleen said.

She described it as a miracle when they were finally able to secure a private loan. In June 2016, the foundation purchased the manor from Third Federal Savings & Loan Association of Cleveland for $395,000, according to Summit County records.

“There seems to be some kind of misconception about [our investor],” Magner said. “The banks would not lend on a property like this. The walls were rotting away. The ceilings were falling in. It was in very bad condition, bad enough that it could have been demolished. A regular institution was out of the question.’’

But persistence paid off.

“Through faith, honestly, we just kept calling, calling, calling … I don’t know how many phone calls,’’ she said. “Finally, we were led to a man named Ezra, a private investor. It was a very short-term loan, and we were required to do a lot of work on the place within only a few months. It has been refinanced now through a regular bank loan, because extensive repairs were done in 2016 and 2017.”

Magner said Ezra lives in Israel and has an office on Wall Street. She declined to provide his last name, as he prefers to remain anonymous.

Coming events

Money is generated by rentals of guest homes on the estate. The manor hosts all sorts of events, from weddings to family reunions to art shows and murder mystery dinners put on by the Candlelight Mystery Players. Healing circles, yoga, reiki, meditation and a women’s empowerment group have also become part of the regular rotation of events.

On Oct. 5-6, the manor will host its largest fundraising event of the year, a camping and music festival to kick off its lantern tour season. Dead Awakening will return, with camping, vendors and art. Lantern tours will occur each Friday and Saturday in October from 7-11 p.m. For tickets, visit farnammanor.ticketleap.com.

Continuing the work

About $200,000 of renovation has been done the last two years, but more work is needed, said Magner. All work is done by volunteers, who are always wanted.

“Everett Farnam said, ‘God and I are partners on this land, and I’m under great obligation to do it right.’ And so that’s our motto,” said Magner. “We are under great obligation to keep this alive for the future.”

For more information, call 330-990-8377, email info@farnamfoundation.org or visit farnamfoundation.org. Those interested in volunteering can click the “Get Involved” tab. Information is also posted on the manor’s Facebook pages, Farnam Manor Museum and the Spirits of Farnam Manor.

 

Featured image photo caption: Kathleen Magner, with the help of her son, Aaron Dykes, hosted Grateful Dead campers at the Farnam Manor. Photo by J. Mitchell