Seagate Story

The Cincinnati Enquirer has an article about the Crosley Mansion - Seagate. Excerpts are below.

If you're heading to see the Reds spring training in Sarasota, Fla., plan a visit to the beautifully restored mansion of former Reds owner Powel Crosley Jr.

The Cincinnati industrialist, inventor, automaker and WLW-AM founder built the lavish 21-room Mediterranean-style home in 1929, five years before he purchased his hometown baseball team.

Called Seagate, it was nestled among pine trees on picturesque Sarasota Bay.

Today it's hidden by the new University of South Florida campus on former Crosley property along the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41). The Crosley mansion is easily overlooked by vacationers who instead flock to the estate of Crosley's friend and next-door neighbor, circus owner and art collector John Ringling.

But Seagate definitely is worth trying to find on Wednesdays, when free public tours are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Inside, visitors will see the original pecky cypress ceiling beams and Italian tile floor in the living room where Powel and his wife, Gwendolyn, entertained guests for 10 years, until she died in 1939.

Upstairs they'll see Crosley's round wood-paneled nautical-themed office, with a ceiling wind-direction arrow connected to a rooftop weathervane.

Thanks to My Florida History for discovering this article. There is lots of interesting information at the My Florida History blog site.