Sight · Cuyahoga Valley National Park
A hand-built brick house with a story tied to the old canal.
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The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Cuyahoga Valley Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Cuyahoga Valley audio tourRecorded for this place
Frazee House“Up ahead is Frazee House, a brick home the family built by hand in the eighteen twenties. Stop if early Ohio architecture interests you; the house and outdoor panels make this a short visit.”
Plays as you drive up to Frazee House in the Parkwolf Cuyahoga Valley Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Frazee House is a two-story Federal-style brick home beside the Ohio & Erie Canal in Valley View. It is one of Cuyahoga Valley’s two oldest houses. I’d keep it as a short stop if early Ohio architecture interests you: the house and its outdoor interpretation panels carry the visit.
The Frazees built the house by hand in 1825–27, making bricks from local clay. Its balanced Federal-style design drew on an 1806 pattern book, but the house started settling while construction was underway. The doors and windows were cut to fit, so the lines aren’t quite as regular as the style suggests. It was among the valley’s first brick buildings.
The family bought 190 acres here in 1816 and first lived in a log cabin while clearing and farming the land. The Ohio & Erie Canal later cut through their property, opening wider markets to valley farmers. A $130 settlement from Ohio may have helped pay for the house; that connection is possible, not certain.
There are two outdoor interpretation panels, one by the house and a second across Canal Road beside the Towpath. The park also identifies the Sagamore Bridle Trail at the foot of the driveway. Parking is limited enough that visitors often find the small area awkward, so don’t count on a roomy lot.
Cross Canal Road to the Towpath panel, then look back across the canal for the house in its landscape. That wider view explains why the house was placed here better than a tight façade shot. The vault toilet is on the Towpath side of the road.
Wildlife
319 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
103 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
248 sightingsBeaverMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
494 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
102 sightingsTrumpeter SwanMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Cuyahoga Valley. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateSagamore Creek Loop3.6 mi · 2 hr · 1.3 mi awayTwo seasonal falls reward a steep walk through the gorge.
ModerateBedford Singletrack Loop11.5 mi · 5.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayA long forest circuit linked by one-way singletrack and paved paths.
EasyCanal Exploration Center to Tinkers Creek Aqueduct Walk1.3 mi · 45 min · 1.7 mi awayA short canal walk past Lock 38 to Tinkers Creek Aqueduct.
ModerateBuckeye and Towpath Loop: Station Road Bridge to Red Lock10.3 mi · 5.5 hr · 2.4 mi awayBuckeye hills and a canal-side Towpath make one varied loop.
EasyStation Road Bridge to Mudcatcher Walk1.5 mi · 45 min · 2.4 mi awayA short river loop over an iron bridge and through canal history.
ModerateDeer Lick Loop4.2 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.6 mi awayA rolling forest loop leads to a broad sandstone overhang.
EasyBridal Veil Falls Walk0.3 mi · 18 min · 2.6 mi awayA short stairway walk to a low cascade in a wooded gorge.
EasyMy Mountain Trail0.6 mi · 30 min · 2.6 mi awaySeven crossings and a boardwalk lead to a wooded valley overlook.
Sight · 0.3 mi awayAlexander-Wilson MillA historic canal mill, seen across the water from a Towpath stop.
Sight · 0.4 mi awayLock 37 and Flood GateSee how a canal lock and flood gate manage water.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayTinkers Creek AqueductThe canal's clever workaround for carrying boats over Tinkers Creek.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayAstorhurst Disc Golf CourseA long, hilly 18-hole round over a former golf course.
Visitor center · 1.7 mi awayCanal Exploration CenterHands-on canal history beside Lock 38 and the Towpath.
Picnic area · 1.8 mi awayHermit’s Hollow Picnic AreaA family picnic shelter with a wood-burning fireplace.
Picnic area · 1.8 mi awayHemlock Creek Picnic AreaShelter, grills and trails make this an easy picnic stop.
Sight · 1.9 mi awayCanal Exploration Center StationA compact rail stop links canal exhibits to the Towpath Trail.Parkwolf’s Cuyahoga Valley ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
