I love adventuring. Most summers (besides the summer of Covid) I have traveled overseas. There is just SO MUCH I want to see. But just because I love traveling to other countries doesn’t mean I don’t love seeing things closer to home. Give me a free weekend and I will be in my car exploring something closer to home. I want to see all there is to see in Ohio. So it was great visiting Mansfield, OH with my friend Erin, and we started the day at Kingwood Center Gardens.
Kingwood Center Gardens
Kingwood Center Gardens was just over an hour drive from Columbus. Costing $10 to enter, $5 for children aged 7-18 and free for children 6 and under), the gardens are open from from 10am-7pm with extended hours on Thursday, closing at 9pm and shortened hours in winter, closing at 5. Kingwood Hall closes one hour before the garden. If you visit the first Monday of the month it’s free for everyone!
Charles Kelley King moved to Mansfield in 1893 when he was offered a job at the nearby Ohio Brass Company. He eventually became board chairman and president of the company. King purchased the 47-acre property in 1912, and in 1926 the Kingwood Hall was completed. The home was designed in the French provincial style, and is open for visiting. When King died in 1952, he left a private trust for the gardens to become public. In 1976 it was up on the U.S. Department of the Interiors National Register of Historic Places.
A few weeks ago Erin and I took a trip to Schnormeier Gardens, but this estate and garden was very different. Schnormeier is a Japanese garden, but at Kingwood Center Gardens the focus is the plants. I’m a big plant lover, and I was just obsessed with Kingwood Center Gardens- the second we walked through the gate we were assaulted with dozens of flowers.
Herb, Rose & Trial Gardens
The herb, rose and trial gardens are beautiful. There is a large variety of roses accompanied by other blooms. Here, both culinary and medicinal herbs are being grown. Visitors are able to walk through the grass and get up close with the flowers and plants, most of which are labeled and identified.
In this part of the garden they also grow vegetables. It also features a fountain and gazebo. Kingwood Center Gardens hosts weddings, receptions and can be rented out for whatever party you desire. What gorgeous scenery for any event!
Courtyard Garden
After roaming around the rose garden, you enter the courtyard garden. The courtyard garden offers some shade, and there are lots of chairs and benches if you want to sit and have a snack. This is also where special events are staged.
Duck Pond
Duck Pond predates Kingwood Hall, and Mr. King was known to ice skate on this pond. Living up to its name, there were ducks on it when we visited, and there are machines for buying grains if you want to feed them. This is also where we found a peacock hiding under the shade of a tree.
Terrace Garden
The Terrace Garden was a really beautiful part of the grounds, and probably my favorite part. The Terrace Garden wasn’t added until the mid 1990s, and has three separate terraces that are all aligned.
There are several sitting areas with shade, and benches sitting facing the many fountains.
I loved the second terrace area, with its recessed garden, and it had a large shelter.
The third terrace had a fountain with lily pads. It also had lovely arrangements of potted plants, which are featured throughout the gardens.
Historic Formal Gardens
Continuing on the brick path, visitors will arrive at the historic formal gardens. These were built in 1926, the same time the house was being designed.
The gardens were built around a swimming pool which no longer exists. Mr. King wanted people to have to walk through the gardens in order to access the pool.
Daylily Gardens
There must have been hundreds of varieties of daylilies in this part of the garden, of all different colors and sizes.
The brick paths that meander around the grounds lead right to the Kingwood Hall, which was our next stop.
Kingwood Hall
Included with the admission to the Kingwood Center Gardens (which is $8) is access to Kingwood Hall, the home of the Kings. There are guided tours of the house.
We were lucky enough to be the only ones touring the home when we visited. First we stopped by the ballroom, before heading up stairs to see the rooms. I loved the library and reading room. Mr. King was an avid reader.
The formal living room was beautiful, and all the furniture in the room, except the piano, is original to the house. The French doors lead right out to the gardens. Next to this room was a flower arranging room; Mr. King would have flower arrangements from his gardens delivered to him when he would travel.
We also saw the butlers pantry, and the kitchen. The large kitchen had it’s original appliances. On display in the butlers pantry are china and dishes that the Kings amassed.
Upon exiting the house we went into the south lawn and terrace, where there were intricately designed shrubs and more flowers.
Storybook Trail
The Storybook Trail was added a few years ago. It begins at the peacock playhouse, which was once the gatehouse and is now a kids playhouse. The 500 foot Storybook trail allows guest to take a walk along a shady trail in the woods, while reading pages of a book along the way.
After the Storybook Trail, we continued on another trail in the woods. Before leaving, we also visited the greenhouse and plant shop. Added after my visit was the Garden Gateway- an exhibit gallery featuring “The Story of Kingwood”. The visitor center has features photos and artifacts and a boardwalk. There are so many great sites in Mansfield, Ohio and I loved visiting the Kingwood Center Gardens. I can’t wait to come back and visit again.
Richland Carrousel Park
To continue on to the other great sites in Mansfield, Ohio, we left the Kingwood Center Gardens and headed to the Richland Carrousel Park in the the downtown area.
Richland Carrousel Park opened in 1991. All 52 figures on the carrousel were designed, carved and painted by Carrousel Works in Mansfield, Ohio.
The carrousel is handicap accessible, and it only costs a dollar to ride. While we were there we were the only people riding. We got a nice long ride, probably 3 minutes.
Richland Carrousel has 30 horses, 4 bears, 4 ostriches (Erin’s choice), 4 cats (my choice), 4 rabbits, a goat, giraffe, lion, tiger and zebra. Some of the animals don’t go up and down, which is why I didn’t ride the goat, my favorite animal.
If you go to Mansfield, I very much recommend making a stop at Richland Carrousel. They are open Tuesday-Sunday from 11-5pm. There is metered street parking outside the park, but for a nickel we were able to park for 12 minutes.
And as an added bonus- the flowers outside were spectacular!
The Ohio State Reformatory
After visiting Kingwood Center Gardens, make sure to visit one of the most famous aspects of Mansfield, OH- the Ohio State Reformatory. It was the location that was used in seemingly every guys favorite movie- The Shawshank Redemption. You can take tours to relive scenes from the movie, go on a ghost hunt, or take a history tour. They are open from 11-4 everyday. Check out their website if you are wanting to visit and choose a tour. We didn’t take a tour that day, but it is a rather beautiful building just for making a quick stop. I visited the Ohio State Reformatory on a separate day, and you can read all about it in this post.
Mansfield Wineries & Breweries
It isn’t a road trip for Erin and I without checking out some local libations. Maybe you’ve noticed that theme from some of my other Ohio adventures, such as when we went to Blackhand Gorge and Sand Hollow winery (which was my favorite Ohio winery to date). So, I’m always looking for a good winery or brewery when I’m traveling, and Mansfield has a couple to offer.
1285 Winery
1285 Winery is just on the outskirts of Mansfield, and is connected to The Blueberry Patch, where you can pick up some fresh blueberries, or blueberry products. The winery did have some great outside seating as well as a large indoor seating area.
The winery offers dinner: pizzas, grinders, salads, and tons of cheese options are available. We went for the feta bake (feta cooked with olives and artichokes), and a petit cheese plate, which comes with your choice of two cheeses. Being gluten intolerant, they did bring me a plate of veggies to go with the cheeses, as they usually come with bread.
There are about 13 wines to choose from and they offer flights. I first ordered the blueberry bliss and later had the dry blueberry wine. They were both very sweet and not completely to my liking but it was a nice place to stop at after visiting the other sites in Mansfield. Inside the winery is a little gift shop, and it also features a café and bakery.
Phoenix Brewing Company
After my first visit to Mansfield, my friend Aaron saw on my instagram story that I was in Mansfield (his hometown) and he suggested The Phoenix Brewing Company. So, after visiting Mansfield again to tour the Mansfield Reformatory, we decided to check it out.
Phoenix Brewing Company is located near the Mansfield pre-prohibition brewery district. It is located in an 108 year old building- the restored former Schroer Funeral and Mortuary Home. The flight boards feature an image of a coffin because of this. Phoenix Brewing Company opened in April of 2014. The tap room features 16 taps including six Phoenix flagship beers and rotating seasonal beers. They are also offer other Ohio craft brews, ciders, and a selection of wines from local winery Cypress Hill. Upstairs if the Spirit Room, where they offer spirits from Ohio distilleries. The Spirit Room is an intimate space, with reclaimed wood, and leather couches. Food trucks are available seasonally but visitors can also order food items from the local pizzeria or bring in carry out. They are open Tuesday-Thursday from 3-9pm, Friday from 3-11pm, Saturday 12-11pm and Sunday 12-7pm.
Check out this website for other suggestions about wineries and breweries in the Mansfield area.
So there you have it, visiting Kingwood Center Gardens & other Mansfield, OH sites. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and that it gave you some ideas for a trip of your own. Please leave a comment with your thoughts, and I’m always looking for ideas (thanks to those who have given me some already, I’ve generated quite a list!).
Also, make sure you subscribe so that you can get notices about my latest posts. I hope you’re taking care of yourself!
-Catching Katie
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