A historic mansion with a unique connection to Travis Kelce’s newly purchased Ohio estate is now on the market for $1.75 million, offering buyers a chance to own a property designed by the same architect who created the Kansas City Chiefs star’s new home.At the beginning of September, reports emerged that Kelce, who recently married pop superstar Taylor Swift, had purchased the historic Moyenage estate in Bratenahl, Ohio, for $5.35 million.Now, some 375 miles west, another mansion designed by the same architect for the same original owner is up for sale.
House of Seven Gables shares history with Kelce’s estate
Known as the House of Seven Gables, the three-story manor in Wheaton, Illinois, was built in 1897 by renowned architect Jarvis Hunt for Chicago steel magnate Jay C. Morse.Around five years later, Morse commissioned Hunt again to design Moyenage, the sprawling Ohio estate Kelce purchased in March.“The resemblance is really quite remarkable,” Jenny Ames of Engel & Volkers Chicago, who is listing the House of Seven Gables with colleague Lisa Grimes, told Mansion Global.
A $1.75M mansion shares its architect with Travis Kelce’s Ohio estate. (Photo: Jenny Ames)
Both properties showcase Hunt’s interpretation of Tudor and Jacobean architecture, featuring brick exteriors, gabled rooflines and prominent chimneys.“Historical accounts indicate that when Morse later built Moyenage in Ohio, he asked Hunt to design it based on his Wheaton home,” Ames said. “So when you look at the two houses side by side, you are not simply seeing two homes by the same architect. You are seeing two versions of a very personal architectural vision created for the same owner.”
How the two mansions compare
Kelce’s $5.35M mansion has a $1.75M architectural counterpart 375 miles away. (Photo: Jenny Ames)
Kelce paid $5.35 million for Moyenage, which spans roughly 21,000 square feet across 3.5 acres overlooking Lake Erie. The property features eight bedrooms, a game room, a home theatre and a two-bedroom gatehouse.The House of Seven Gables is around half that size, measuring approximately 10,000 square feet and sitting on 0.48 acres. According to its listing, the home has seven bedrooms, modern infrastructure and a newly built three-car garage.
Inside the 10,000-sq-ft mansion linked to Kelce’s Ohio estate. (Photo: Jenny Ames)
“The interiors are where the relationship becomes especially interesting,” Ames said. “Both homes have extraordinary woodwork, beamed ceilings, substantial staircases, leaded glass and formal rooms organized on a grand scale.”She added that both properties have “a richness and almost medieval character” that makes their architectural connection particularly striking.
Historic mansion was once a convent
This $1.75M mansion was designed by the same architect as Kelce’s estate. (Photo: Jenny Ames)
The House of Seven Gables has retained many of its original features, including flooring, beamed ceilings, oak panelling, carved woodwork and fireplaces.For decades, the property served as the Loretto Convent. Ames said the level of preservation is unusual for a home that is nearly 130 years old, particularly given that it spent around 70 years as a religious institution rather than a private residence.“Another significant feature is that this home is now sitting on a brand-new foundation,” she said.
730-ton house was moved intact
The mansion also has an unusual recent history. In 2017, when the wider property was being redeveloped, the historic house was saved from demolition by being relocated around 500 feet to a new site.“They moved the structure intact,” Ames said.The approximately 730-ton mansion was lifted from its original foundation onto a framework of steel beams and placed on 21 hydraulic dollies. It was then transported to its new foundation in a process that took roughly six hours.Ames and Grimes brought the House of Seven Gables to the market last summer. The current owners, who could not be reached for comment, are not known to have disclosed when they acquired the property.
