GRANVILLE, Ohio — Columbus Business First recently recognized Denison University’s Beth Eden building as an exemplary historic preservation project.
In 2023, the 123-year-old structure was transformed to house offices for the president, senior university staff and registrar.
A restoration and expansion almost tripled the original footprint of the building while sensitively maintaining its historic character. The addition replicates the original architecture, with the two halves connected by a modern glass entrance that balances the whole.
Beth Eden was built in the Federal Revival architectural style as the home for Denison president Emory Hunt. Signature architectural embellishments, such as an original staircase to the third floor, were restored during the renovation and construction.
Denson acquired the land where Beth Eden stands in 1889 from Fletcher O. Marsh, a mathematics professor and acting university president from 1873 to 1875. The Marsh house was then torn down, and the new home, the “President’s Mansion,” was built in 1901.
Emory W. Hunt, the school’s president from 1901 to 1912, was the first president to live in the house. He unofficially named the edifice “Beth Eden” after a Massachusetts church where he married his wife.
In the early 1970s, the house was converted into the Admission center and officially named “Beth Eden,” meaning “House of Peace.”