Gateposts

Back in the day, landowners liked to have an impressive entrance to their home.  Guests did not merely sashay up the drive. 

Some estates were surrounded by a high wall or fence as a security precaution.  Of course, these had to have a gate to get through, and the gateposts had to be strong enough to support the weight of the gate.  But even when there was no fence, many times estate owners just liked the look of a special entranceway at the edge of the property.  They made guests aware that they were entering a special realm.  It alerted them to pause on the threshold and marvel.  The famed Squire's Castle in North Chagrin Reservation was intended to be a gatehouse.  When people visit there now, the thought comes:  if this was just supposed to be a gatehouse, what was the main house going to be?  Which is exactly the thought the builders wanted then to have. 

Impressive entrances didn't always need to be quite so grand.  It could be an archway, or, more commonly, gateposts.  Crowell Hilaka has two sets of historical gateposts (that we know about).  One set harks back to the Kirby estate.  These are large, plain, grey stone slabs - imposing, yet understated.  They face Rt 303 a short way north of Oviatt Rd.  The estate driveway wound northeast in a diagonal across the creek and on up to Kirby House.  It is now known as the Innisfree Road. 

The Broadview Road entrance to the camp is near the entrance to the old Freeman farm, although we don't know exactly where the drive was.  We do know that Milton R. Freeman had his stone gateposts carved with his initials and the year.  When the Neal family built Amity House, they took the old Freeman gateposts and used them as pillars in the outdoor fireplace.