City of Westerville, Ohio > City Departments > Parks & Recreation

Everal Barn and Homestead

Quietly nestled on the grounds of 52-acre Heritage Park, beautifully renovated Everal Barn and Homestead offers visitors a glimpse of Westerville's past. Included on the National Register of Historic Places, it is named for one of the earliest families to settle the area.

The Everal farm, named Rosedale after J.W. Everal's rose garden, is an excellent example of nineteenth century farm architecture. Industrialist John Everal, after having discovered a large clay deposit about one-half mile from the Village of Westerville, established the J.W. Everal Tile Company in 1872. The plant was located a short distance east of the present farm on the bank of Alum Creek. The brick and tile for the farmhouse, carriage house and other outbuildings at Rosedale were fired in the Everal kiln, as were those for many Westerville area structures of the period. The plant operated nine months per year and employed thirty people, making it the largest industry in Westerville. Peak output of the plant reached 25,000 bricks per day.

After 1912, with the clay supply depleted, the plant closed but the farm continued to operate. Through time, the farm passed into the hands of several different owners and in 1973, the City of Westerville took an interest in the property. That year, the Historical Society applied for national historic site designation and received that recognition in 1975. In 1978, John Antrim donated his portion of interest to the City of Westerville to be used as a park. The remaining interest was purchased from Fred Miller through a federal grant administered through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

The Parks and Recreation Department received a historic preservation matching grant in 1981, and in 1998, the Department received a NatureWorks Grant through ODNR. After the citizen-driven PROS 2000 income tax increase was passed in 1998, the real work began in transforming the Everal Barn and Homestead into what we see it as today, a truly unique setting where heritage and hospitality meet.

Everal Barn and Homestead is a popular place for events, parties, weddings, receptions, family reunions and corporate outings. To find out how the Everal Barn and Homestead can best suit your needs, please click on the information links to the right or call Kim Sipe, Facility Assistant, (614) 901-6515. Those who need to sign and/or return contracts or get more information can do so at the Community Center from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Everal Barn and Homestead at Heritage Park
60 N. Cleveland Avenue
Westerville, Ohio 43081
Kim Sipe, Facility Assistant Phone: (614) 901-6515