Buhl Mansion history book a 'labor of love'

SHARON — What would Frank and Julia Buhl think of those continuing to carry on their legacy?

“I personally think they’re smiling down,” Taylor Galaska said on a rainy afternoon in the double parlour at the Buhl Mansion in Sharon.

Galaska, president of the Sharon Historical Society and guesthouse supervisor at the mansion, was joined by Laura Ackley to discuss the new book “Built by Steel: Frank and Julia Buhl’s Mansion and Legacy.”

“It’s a labor of love,” Ackley said of the mansion, 422 E. State St.

Ackley, general manager of the mansion and Donna’s Diner in Sharon and director of marketing for The Tara in Clark, is Donna Winner niece. Mrs. Winner and her husband, the late James E. Winner Jr., bought the mansion and took on $3.5 million in extensive renovations, opening the guesthouse and spa in 1997.

The timing was just right for Ackley and the historical society to team up for the book; guests of the 2022 New Year’s Eve party at the mansion were gifted a copy of the book to mark 25 years since the guesthouse and spa opened.

“I had files and files on my computer … It was just the spark I needed,” she said.

Proceeds from the book — which was printed in Sharon by SCP Group — benefit the historical society, and copies are selling briskly.

“We’re gonna need a reprint soon,” Ackley said, noting that Galaska’s lecture about the book was standing-room only.

The book recounts how Sharon businessman Buhl built a castle for his wife as a wedding gift after their marriage in 1888. The mansion cost $60,000 — approximately $2.2 million in 2023 dollars — to construct and was completed in 1896, and the mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Ackley and Galaska were the main researchers and writers for the 75-page book, which features color and black and white photos of the mansion throughout the years, plus information about the Buhls and the Winners and how they continue to impact the Shenango Valley.

Both Ackley and Galaska know the story of the mansion inside and out; the book was their own labor of love that included lots of late-night emails and Ackley’s bout with COVID-19.

“The editing process took weeks,” Ackley said.

She gave a shout-out to Lynda Stewart of Stewart Creative Design, a business that specializes in tourism and helped design the book.

During Ackley’s research, she came across a lot of information about Buhl’s connections to politicians and other wealthy businessmen in Pittsburgh and Detroit. His father, Christian H. Buhl, was the first Republican mayor of Detroit in 1860 and 1861.

A 2001 article from the Detroit Times says, “If the Motor City has a family tree, Christian Buhl and his descendants helped plant it.”

Frank Buhl, whose father sent him to Sharon to learn how to operate their steel plant, Iron Works, had wanted to take his new wife back to Detroit with him, but she refused, wanting to remain in the “hills of Sharon.”

It’s rumored that Mrs. Buhl, the former Julia Forker of Mercer, turned down four marriage proposals from him before their courtship began.

They soon moved into a 10-room wood frame home near the Forker family home. The newlyweds’ first home was eventually relocated to the rear of the mansion property and used as the gardener’s cottage until it was demolished.

When Buhl’s mother, Caroline DeLong Buhl, first visited the couple in their new home, she said “Why Frank, how dare you let your wife live in this house. You should build her a mansion.”

Architect and businessman Charles H. Owsley of Youngstown built the 14-room mansion in Richardsonian Romanesque style, employing 150 Italian bricklayers who were granted U.S. citizenship after finishing the job.

His firm, Owsley, Boucherle and Owsley, also built St. John’s Episcopal Church and F.H. Buhl Club in Sharon and the Mercer County Courthouse.

The architecture is Galaska’s favorite part of the mansion property, with its turrets, gables, stained glass, arches and stonework.

The Buhls visited other mansions locally and abroad, using a mansion in Buhl’s hometown of Detroit for inspiration.

The mansion sits close to East State Street, which was intentional because the Buhls loved visiting with passers-by on the front steps.

A grand ball held in February 1896 marked the official opening of the mansion, furnished in part by items from a castle in France and oil paintings the Buhls bought in Europe.

The stained glass window on the landing to the guest rooms has a “W” monogram for the Winners and roses, Mrs. Buhl favorite flower.

No one knows what happened to the original Tiffany stained glass window that displayed the Buhl family’s coat of arms.

There’s also a formal dining room, library, antiques, carriage house, conservatory and space for special events. The calendar for weddings this year filled up quickly, Ackley said.

The Buhls would be very proud and thrilled to that know people are still enjoying the mansion, she and Galaska said.

And while many are familiar with Frank and Julia Buhl and local properties that have been named after them over the years, like Buhl Park and the Buhl Community Recreation Fitness Center, many don’t know how far their generosity and philanthropy stretched beyond the valley.

When Buhl passed away in 1918, he bequeathed $1 million to both France and Belgium to aid those affected by World War I. Today, that number would be about $21 million, Ackley said.

He also gave large donations to both the library and hospital in Sharon; they had the Buhl name at one point — Buhl-Henderson Community Library and the Christian H. Buhl Hospital.

The Buhls lived at the mansion until their deaths. Mrs. Buhl, who passed away in 1936, had help maintaining the property from her nephew, Henry Forker, who moved in after Buhl died.

The Forkers used it as a family home, and it also served as a gallery, French restaurant and beauty school, falling in disrepair until the Winners came along.

Ackley and Galaska are considering hosting group tours of the mansion, which has seen many powerful business leaders, socialites and guests over the years.

“Together, the Buhls embraced their famous inscription on the pink sandstone fireplace, ‘Good Friends, Good Fire, Good Cheers,’” according to the book.

The book can be purchased online at SharonHistoricalSociety.com