The house at 301 Glen Avenue is still known today as the John Offutt residence. Since the time it was built in 1916, the house became the social center of Ellwood City visited by dignitaries of all levels of our government including former presidents and high U.S. Steel executives. Some of the people we have talked to that remember the grand dinner parties recall the chimes in the dining room that were sounded when dinner was ready to be served. Even after Mr. Offutt’s death in 1952, his widow’s Christmas parties were still the social event of the season for many years.
John Offutt joined National Tube when it became part of U. S. Steel in 1901. Raising through the ranks quickly he was transferred to Ellwood Works “Mill B” in 1902, became assistant general superintendent of “Mill A” in 1910, was made general superintendent in 1930, until 1934 when he was named assistant to the Vice President and field engineer of National Tube. As an engineer, Mr. Offutt perfected a number of inventions having to do with the making of seamless tubes.
Around the time the house on Glen Avenue was built, there was a tragic fire in New Castle where four children were killed in the fire. Mr. Offut had four children himself so he had his house built as “fire-proof” as he possibly could. The third floor of the home is the only story that is not cement. Another interesting story we have gotten about the construction of this house was that it was built the same year as the Country Club. We were told that the club was built by workers of the stainless steel tube mill where Offut was serving as assistant general superintendent. Workers were going back and forth between the mill and the club, every so often the workers made a stop at the Offut house with construction supplies.
Mr. Offut was one of the founders of the Ellwood City Industrial Corporation and served as the corporations president until his death. He also was one of the founders of Ellwood City’s Public Library, served on the original hospital board and remained active until his death. Somehow he also found the time to serve as a chairman of Ellwood City’s chapter of the Red Cross, headed the Community Chest in 1927, helped set up the Playground Program in the borough, served on the school board, had a seat on the board of Directors of Federal Savings and Loan, and was one of the major forces behind the formation of the Ellwood City Country Club where he was crowned golf champion on several occasions. After his widow passed, the house was sold to Joseph & Jean Geniviva in 1968. Since the house was built in 1916, this majestic house has only had two owners, the Offut’s and the Geniviva’s. Joseph’s son, Frank Geniviva, currently has an excellent site about Ellwood City on Facebook.
The large house has always been a favorite of ours and we would love to hear about any memories you may have about the house at 301 Glen Avenue or of the Offutt’s or Geniviva’s, please leave a comment below or email us your memories by CLICKING HERE.
John Offutt mentioned in this article was my grandfather. My father grew up in this house! He was John W. Offutt Jr. I grew up in California so only visited the house a few times, but I loved it.
The front of the house would be 301 3rd St., but my guess is that 301 Glen Ave. was used as mail delivery. The original metal mail box is still used, with “301″ marked into it by John Offutt.
The only changes made to the house, was the remodelling of the kitchen. The kitchen when my parents bought the home was designed as a servers kitchen and needed to be replaced. Yes, the chimes are still there, along with the door chime that let the servants know what door [front or back].
My dad [Joseph Geniviva] passed away in 1987, and after my mom [Jean Geniviva] passed on in 2007, the home was transferred to me. My home is in Wayne township and I really wanted to move back to the “homestead” but when my youngest daughter got married in 2007, I had them move in the house at 301 Glen Ave.
The second floor of the home, 305 Glen Ave, has been a rental since the 1940s, and there are many unique things found there. The third floor has 4 full size bedrooms, one containing a wall that is a blackboard.
The carriage house [307 Glen Ave] was the quarters for the servants. I lived there for 14 years.
Still present in the home, are two work tables that were used by John Offutt along with the blue prints of the original house, and a number of other houses in Ellwood City that John Offutt made. The house is built on 4-5 city lots and is completely surrounded by street or ally. I still have an old photo [8x10] of John in his later years sitting beside the pond in the yard.
When my dad purchased the property in 1966, it sold for $40,000.00 and at the time it was the highest amount paid for a resold home in EC.
I have a lot more info and photos, just contact me.
Thank you
Frank Geniviva
Frank,
Are you sure it was 1966 when your dad purchased the house? In 1967, my parents moved to Ellwood from Philadelphia and I thought they looked at this house. I remember touring the house and yard with them and was amazed at the size of the house and the beauty of the grounds/pond. I also remember that the house was sold to your family. I had forgotten about the carriage house.
The house was much too large for my parents and my one brother,(three of us stayed in the Philadelphia area).
My parents bought the Jake Britton house at 225 Glen Avenue.
Thanks for the memories.
Jer
Jerry
You might be right, 67 is more like it. I just remember they bought it after i got out of college. I can still here my dad saying, “after all that money for your education, it time I spend spend some money on your mom”
What is very interesting, there was a bidding process on the Offutt house [301 glen] and my dad saying if he didn’t get it, he would buy the Britton home.
Small World we live in…..
fgviva
When my husband and I were married in 1970 our first apartment was in the 2nd floor of this beautiful home. It was a lovely apartment and we enjoyed our 2 years there. We moved when we purchased our first home. The living space in our home wasn’t as spacious as the rooms in that apartment. One memory I have is of a mouse in our bread drawer! With the thick cement walls, no one could imagine how that mouse got to the second floor.