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The George Barrett Concrete House
2-4 East Main
1844 and 1853
“The
Poor Man’s Home, and Rich Man’s
Palace”
The George
Barrett Concrete House
(traditionally called the “Cement
House” by Spring Valley residents)
is one of the first concrete homes
built in the Midwest.
George Barrett moved from New
England to Spring Valley in the
1840s.
After experiencing fires in
several wings of his home, he
researched inflammable building
materials and, with the help of a
single carpenter, constructed the
2-story concrete portion of the
house (the wing on the right), using
river rock and concrete mortar
reinforced with animal hair.
Barrett wrote a book
explaining its design and
construction, entitled Home for
the Millions and subtitled “The
Poor Man’s Home, and Rich Man’s
Palace, or, the Application of the
Gravel Wall Cement to the Purpose of
Building”.
The Woolen Mill
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Using the same
construction materials,
Barrett constructed a woolen
mill from which he shipped
wool blankets on the
railroad running behind the
building (the current Little
Miami Scenic Trail). The
mill stands in the large lot
behind Bledsoe Park, on the
west side of Terrace Avenue.
A wave of concrete home
construction followed in the
Midwest in the late 1800s,
but few such homes still
exist; the Barrett House is
one of the finest extant
examples.
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On the brink
of condemnation in the
1990s, the Barrett House was
purchased by Spring Valley
ACTS; restoration is
ongoing, largely through volunteer
efforts. The house is
individually listed on the
National Registry of
Historic Homes, and the Ohio
Bicentennial Commission
placed a marker explaining
the house’s history in 2003.
A large
room in the Concrete House
is available for public
meetings.
The museum on the
first floor of the concrete
wing is open during the
annual Potato Festival in
October and occasionally
throughout the year, with
displays of Spring Valley
historic artifacts which are
curated by ACTS on behalf of
Spring Valley’s residents.
For information, use
of the meeting room, or
donations to the archives,
contact Spring Valley ACTS,
Inc., P.O. Box 26, Spring
Valley, OH 45370; or call
937-862-5250.
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