The H. R. Reed House (also known as the President Grover Cleveland Summer Home) is located on the iconic Water Street in Marion, Massachusetts, and is one of the town’s finest Shingle-style summer cottages. The shingled “cottage” was built in 1886 to a design by architect James T. Kelley, reportedly incorporating an earlier 1840s structure that Reed previously had enlarged years prior. Henry R. Reed was an agent for the Revere Sugar Refinery in Boston and was well-connected locally. He hosted President Grover Cleveland at the cottage during summer visits, earning the home its enduring nickname as Cleveland’s Marion “summer White House,” with the president renting the property for the 1890 and 1891 seasons, between his two terms as President. President Cleveland and his wife, Frances, apparently loved summering in Marion so much, that they named their third child Marion. Architecturally, the house presents a two-story, shingle-clad form beneath a gambrel roof, fronted by a broad porch on columns and with three gambrel dormers at the roof. Behind the house, a Shingle style carriage house remains and to the side, a pool is enclosed by a shingled wall. Reed, who died in 1905, did not long enjoy his Marion property, but his widow and daughters continued to spend their summers there until the mid-20th century. Since then, the property has sold a few times and current owners are undertaking a large renovation to this significant residence, which has been individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Buildings of New England 