CONNEAUT - The charming brick octagonal home on old Route 7 south of Conneaut has been owned by three generations of the present family.  Wilfred and Kathleen Kaiser surround themselves with the legacy of their forebears and preserve the past in their home for the future.

     The charm of the octagonal house is apparent instantly to visitors as they are greeted with pie shaped corners in the front foyer entrance hall.  The home features five bedrooms, upstairs and a kitchen, dining room, living room, den, bedroom and hall downstairs and a bathroom on each floor.  The living room and dining room are square. however the rooms immediately off these rooms reflect the "wedge shape" in corners for a delightful contrast to uniformity.

     The basement is constructed of boulders from 24 to 26 inches thick.  According to Kaiser, this created a problem when water was piped into the house replacing a well that was built into the cellar wall.

     When his grandfather Leon F. Lillie purchased the property in 1917 he added the front porch that graces the front entrance today.  The walls of the house are double layers of brick with air space between.  The Kaisers discovered a painted plaster mural on the ceiling when they began to redecorate soon after they moved into the home in 1941.  The painting had been covered with wallpaper and was in bad shape and couldn't be saved.

     According to the Kaisers, the hill in back of their home (a 5,000 year old Indian burial site) has  more historical significance then the home itself.  Two archaeological digs have been undertaken.  A dig conducted by the Conneaut Archeological Society in 1971 uncovered several artifacts and the remains of three Indian burials.

     When Wilfred and Kathleen Kaiser moved into their home in 1941 that had previously been owned by his parents, Kathleen vowed that it would be a happy house.  Reflecting back on the 37 years the family has spent in the home, both concede that it has been a happy place.  At holiday time the two Kaiser children and six grandchildren arrived home for an old fashioned Christmas and it was indeed a happy house!