Rookwood

Mount Adams, Cincinnati, Ohio

Built circa 1845, for Joseph Longworth (1813-1883) and his wife, Anna Maria Rives (1822-1862), niece of William Cabell Rives, U.S. Minister to France. It was named for the rooks that nested here and passed via their son, Nicholas Longworth II, to their grandson, Nick Longworth III, one of the most revered Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives. Nick lived here with his wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt, daughter of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Having once been surrounded by acres of woodland and fields, by 1931 Rockwood had become a subdivision and after Nick died Alice sold up to developers and moved to Washington D.C. Today, the "Rookwood" name is better known for the pottery that was first produced here in 1880 by Maria Longworth.... 

This house is best associated with...

Joseph Longworth

Joseph Longworth of "Rookwood" Cincinnati, Ohio

1813-1883

Anna Maria (Rives) Longworth

Mrs Anna Maria (Rives) Longworth

1822-1862

Nicholas Longworth II

Nicholas Longworth II, of Cincinnati; Ohio Supreme Court Justice

1844-1890

Susan Walker

Mrs Susan (Walker) Longworth

1845-1922

Nicholas Longworth

"Nick" Longworth III of Cincinnati; Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

1869-1931

Alice (Roosevelt) Longworth

Mrs Alice Lee (Roosevelt) Longworth

1884-1980

Although when Nick died in 1931 The New York Times had estimated him to be worth $16 million, in actual fact he was worth just a fraction of that, leaving - after taxes - just under $700,000. That's still the equivalent of about $12 million today, but for a man thought to be worth more than twenty times that - and who had his finger on the pulse at the height of the Gilded Age - it was a considerable drop in fortune. 

Alice had never been enamored with Cincinnatti and she was even less complementary about her home there: "Rookwood... was enchanting, it was so awful... It was a series of brick boxes connected by a large 'Italian style' brick tower. There was a large picture room full of rather dismal landscapes by early 19th century Swedish painters. Nothing very good. It was a very expensive home to run - it required a minimum of five servants - and I couldn't afford to keep it when Nick died. The Longworths were artistic, charming and gifted but they had very little concern about their sources of income. The rents fell off, the taxes increased and somehow, they didn't seem to notice with the result that there really wasn't very much money in the estate when old Mrs Longworth died".   

Today the "Rookwood" name is known for the pottery that has been manufactured here since 1880, started by Joseph's daughter, Maria Longworth Nichols Storer

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Contributed by Mark Meredith on 22/03/2021 and last updated on 22/03/2021.
Nicholas Longworth - The Aristocrat Speaker (2021), by Donald C. Bacon & Anthony M. Champagne 

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