Spot the Matthews-Bryan House by looking for a charming, storybook-like stone and brick cottage with a steep, pointy roof and a decorative arched entryway-right at the end of the stone path straight ahead.
Now, picture yourself in 1930s Park Hill. Cars were boxy, jazz tunes floated through open windows, and Justin Matthews and his architect, Frank Carmean, were on a mission to fill the neighborhood with English Revival masterpieces like this very house. The Matthews-Bryan House stands out with its fairy-tale steep roof and those playful little gables-it’s almost as if it’s winking at you. Matthews built this home just before the Great Depression hit, so it’s got a sense of bravery about it: stately arches throughout the inside and even a full guest house tucked in the back for parties, uninvited in-laws, or maybe a ghost or two (don’t worry, they’re friendly!). Can you imagine the builders laying down these stones, not knowing that life was about to change dramatically? Through seasons of change, the Matthews-Bryan House hasn’t lost its touch of grandeur, and by 1992, it found itself added to the National Register of Historic Places. So as you stand here, you’re face-to-face with a survivor-one that still manages to look like it stepped right out of a storybook, or perhaps walked over from merry old England.
