The Perkins Stone Mansion is the 1837 Greek Revival house built by Colonel Simon Perkins Jr., son of one of Akron's two founders. Cut from sandstone quarried on the property, it has survived almost untouched: the entrance hall with its grand staircase, the parlour furniture, the kitchen with its original cooking hearth, and the third-floor servants' rooms with iron beds and washstands.
The mansion is now the headquarters of the Summit County Historical Society and serves as a small house museum. Across Diagonal Road stands the modest frame house John Brown rented from Perkins for ten years — Brown was the wool partner who managed Perkins's flocks — and combined tours of the two houses are the standard visit.
Open weekends for guided tours; the gardens are accessible during daylight hours. The contrast between the rich Perkins house and the spartan Brown house, visible from each other's windows, is the most striking thing about the visit.