Fairview -- The Frenzel Garden

The seven-acre Frenzel Garden is known for its extensive plantings of rhododendron, with several hundred mature shrubs including rhododendron maximum dug from the woods in West Virginia and peddled door-to-door during the Depression. All the previous owners of the 1920s German sandstone house installed gardens on the mostly shady property and some of the boxwood, Norway spruce and other non-indigenous trees and shrubs are more than 70 years old. The last owners created 70 distinct garden areas of varying sizes, adding to the tree, shrub, herbaceous perennial and bulb collections. The rhododendron and azalea collection has more than 300 species and hybrid varieties; other collections include more than 130 named varieties of hosta, 100 dwarf conifers, 44 species and hybrid varieties of hydrangeas, more than 25 kalmia hybrids and 21 varieties of magnolia. Southern magnolias, crepe myrtle, camellias and gardenias have been tried out in this zone 6 garden with qualified success.

The property overlooks Lake Erie and was used originally as a lake side retreat. The house and garage were built out of salvaged cobblestones from Erie, Pennsylvania that served as ballast on German ships in the 19th century.

Garden features include a tori gate, gazebo, lathe house, patio and shed.

Persons and groups associated with the garden include: Franklin Patton, Sr. (former owner); Fred and Alma Weber (former owners, circa 1953 - circa 1983); Robert and Kathleen Frenzel (former owners, 1983 - circa 2012).