Travis Kelce’s new Ohio mansion has an unusual connection to another historic home nearly 400 miles away. The Kansas City Chiefs star paid $5.35 million for Moyenage, a grand estate overlooking Lake Erie, but its history stretches beyond football and celebrity real estate. The mansion was designed for the same steel magnate who commissioned a strikingly similar house in Illinois several years earlier. Now, that architectural relative, the House of Seven Gables in Wheaton, is on the market for $1.75 million, offering buyers a rare chance to own a piece of the story behind Kelce’s impressive new property.
Travis Kelce’s Ohio mansion has a historic architectural connection
Kelce’s Bratenahl estate, known as Moyenage, stands out for its scale. The roughly 21,000-square-foot property sits on 3.5 acres overlooking Lake Erie and includes eight bedrooms, a game room, home theatre and a separate two-bedroom gatehouse.But the story behind the house makes the property even more intriguing.Architect Jarvis Hunt originally designed Moyenage for Chicago steel magnate Jay C. Morse around the start of the 20th century. Before that, Hunt had designed the House of Seven Gables in Wheaton, Illinois, for Morse in 1897.Jenny Ames of Engel & Völkers Chicago, who is representing the Illinois property with Lisa Grimes, said the connection is more than a coincidence.
The House of Seven Gables in Wheaton, Illinois, was built in 1897.Blank Creative
“The resemblance is really quite remarkable,”“Historical accounts indicate that when Morse later built Moyenage in Ohio, he asked Hunt to design it based on his Wheaton home,” Ames said. “So when you look at the two houses side by side, you are not simply seeing two homes by the same architect. You are seeing two versions of a very personal architectural vision created for the same owner.”Both properties showcase Tudor and Jacobean influences, with brick exteriors, steep gables, large chimneys and elaborate interiors.
House of Seven Gables offers a smaller version of Kelce’s mansion
The Illinois home is considerably smaller than Kelce’s Ohio residence, covering about 10,000 square feet on less than half an acre. It has seven bedrooms, three floors and a newly built three-car garage.Inside, however, its historic character remains strong. Original fireplaces, oak panelling, carved woodwork, flooring, leaded glass and beamed ceilings have survived decades of changes.“The interiors are where the relationship becomes especially interesting,” Ames said. “Both homes have extraordinary woodwork, beamed ceilings, substantial staircases, leaded glass and formal rooms organized on a grand scale.”The property also has an unusual survival story. After serving as the Loretto Convent for decades, the mansion faced demolition during redevelopment. In 2017, workers moved the approximately 730-ton structure about 500 feet to a new site.“They moved the structure intact,” Ames said.The remarkable operation involved placing the mansion on steel beams and 21 hydraulic dollies before moving it onto a new foundation. The process reportedly took about six hours.For Kelce, Moyenage is now part of his growing real estate portfolio. For prospective buyers in Illinois, the House of Seven Gables offers something even more unusual: a chance to own the architectural predecessor of the Chiefs star’s historic Ohio retreat.
