Floraville Historic District

Floraville is a park-like residential neighborhood of about 44 acres south of downtown Lebanon, Ohio, holding roughly 65 buildings from the 1820s through the 1920s. Its nickname comes from the abundant landscaping, and its best-known landmarks are five large mansions near Cincinnati Avenue, built in the 1830s and 1840s. Glendower, the earliest, was the first Lebanon house by builder Amos Bennett and served as a model for neighboring Greek Revival homes. The district also includes an Italian Villa, a large Gothic Revival house, Italianate and Second Empire residences, Colonial Revival and bungalow examples, and an 1897 concrete arch bridge reputed to be the oldest in the state. Many buildings were homes of prominent nineteenth-century lawyers, merchants and bankers, and Alfred Holbrook of National Normal University lived here. Wide setbacks, large side yards and mature trees give the area a consistent character, and most original materials and forms remain intact despite some later intrusions.