The Hower House is the 1871 Second Empire-style mansion built by John Henry Hower, an Akron industrialist who made his money in oats, milling, and later rubber. It survives almost entirely original — the cherry and walnut woodwork, the Italian marble fireplaces, the Tiffany glass, the gas chandeliers, and a full third floor of family possessions, all kept as they were when the last Hower daughter donated the house to the University of Akron in the 1970s.
The interior is one of the better surviving examples of Victorian high-bourgeois taste in the Midwest: heavy curtains, dense rugs, side tables loaded with objets brought back from trips to Europe and Asia. Guided tours run on weekends and last about 45 minutes; a small admission fee goes to maintenance.
The house sits on the eastern edge of the University of Akron campus and pairs naturally with a wander through the older university buildings.