As is the case with many of the properties at Geneva on the Lake, the house in which Jennie Munger Gregory lived during the summer months for roughly 40 years was multi-purpose. When Jennie and her husband Harry purchased the property in 1919, the house was nearing the century mark, having been constructed by the Fitch family beginning in 1823. It was the first frame house in Geneva Township and first frame structure on the lakeshore in Ashtabula County.

The First Frame House in Geneva Township & the Ashtabula County Lakeshore

Jenny and Harry’s home, which is now known as The Jennie Munger Gregory Memorial
Museum. Built in federal style, it was the first frame house erected in the area in 1823-1826. Solomon Fitch, a pioneer from New England, purchased several hundred acres in this area including one hundred acres on the lakefront. Soon after purchasing this land from Joseph and Sarah Battell in 1818 he built a log house about two thousand feet south of the lakefront.

Solomon deeded the one hundred acres on the lakefront to his son Thomas Makepeace Fitch and they proceeded to build the first frame house at the lake. The house had Christian doors, which show the cross and open Bible. People in the early days felt safer when they were traveling if they stopped at homes, which were Christian, and they could tell these homes by the doors.

The porch facing the lake is the front of the house. The road which had been along the lakeshore was later moved to its present location because of erosion. The front half of this house is the original building constructed with huge beams which can be seen in the ceiling of the basement.

At a later date the back half was added and the home has nine bedrooms upstairs.
The home was doubled in size after George Putnam purchased the property in 1865, according to historical society information. Two windows flank the doorway on each side, and prior to the addition, the windows were symmetrical in their relationship to the door. Evidence of the addition to the west is revealed further in the beam that runs through the parlor, originally an outside beam.

There are four rooms downstairs: a kitchen closed to the public, the Walter Jack Research Library, parlor, and dining room. The original house would have had a central hallway running down the center of the structure, adjacent to the staircase. This was later closed off to provide additional space. The small rooms upstairs were for guests, who shared a bathroom that has since been removed. A very small bath on the first floor provides facilities for the staff; there are no public
restrooms at the museum.