AKRON, Ohio — Stan Hywet is not traditionally known as a lively place after dark.
That’s about to change.
The stately Akron home of Goodyear co-founder F.A. Seiberling literally comes to life as part of the new LightNights event that runs select nights through Sept. 17.
A 3-D projection system has been installed on the back of the mansion just beyond the small reflecting pond.
The high-tech wizardry is hidden inside what looks to be a period-correct Japanese teahouse that likely would have met with approval from Seiberling’s wife, Gertrude.
After the sun sets, guests gather on the West Overlook to be treated to Akron’s first taste of the projection technology used at Disney parks, painting a tapestry of images that tell the story of the Seiberling family.
The darkened house awakens with animated silhouette images of F.A. and Gertrude meeting with an architect to plan what has become one of the most acclaimed historic homes in the country.
The house is digitally built before your eyes, beam by beam and brick by brick, accompanied by jaunty music typical of the era. The estate’s gardens rise from the ground and grow into the showplace they are today.
The windows then show a lively house, from the
silhouette of the family dog jumping and wagging its tail in one window to children playing upstairs.
A narrator tells the history of the home, from snow falling on the estate the day the family moved in, Dec. 25, 1915, to visits by famous politicians and the singing Von Trapp family, to couples dancing in the windows at fun social gatherings.
The rise and fall of the family’s fortunes are retold as the house transforms into a whimsical tire factory and figuratively bursts into flames as the nation and the family encounter the horrors of World War I.
Every 15 minutes
The eight-minute show is repeated every 15 minutes throughout the night with the last show at 10:30 p.m.
Stan Hywet Hall &Gardens President and Executive Director Linda Conrad said she’s been watching since about 2000 the development of technology that projects images onto structures.
It wasn’t until three years ago, she said, that Stan Hywet began to seriously consider incorporating it as a way to tell the story of the historic home and also add a new nighttime event.
Conrad said she’s excited not only because it turned out great, but because this show is a first for the city _ and any historic home in the country, for that matter.
“Our mission is to share our story,” she said.
It took months, she said, for the estate’s historians and writers to cull the rich history of the place to pare it all down to a show that lasts minutes, not hours.
It was then up to PaintScaping, a Los Angeles 3-D mapping company, to put it all together.
Founder Philippe Bergeron said his team visited Stan Hywet last summer to literally size up the place.
They had to carefully measure every square inch to be able to create the frame onto which the movie is projected. The canvas they use to tell the story extends from the estate’s dining room to the library.
They spent about three months creating the show. Bergeron said the story was the easy part as there is a “treasure trove” of family tales to tell.
“The history here is fantastic,” he said.
But projecting it onto the home was a bit trickier than some of the company’s previous projects, which include MGM Resorts and concerts for Rihanna.
The canvas the home provides is fantastic, Bergeron said, but those same dramatic architectural gems can prove a difficult surface for projection.
“It is the darkest structure we have ever done,” he said. “Imagine projecting an image on a black screen. That was the challenge we faced.”
This is why they chose to use the home’s large windows to tell much of the story.
About half of the show is traditional 2-D with historical images and scenes projected onto the house. But an equal amount of 3-D trickery is used, from lightning flashes to a dramatic passing of a blimp casting a dark shadow across the home.
Stan Hywet had to wait until late summer to launch the LightNights because the sun is now setting earlier.
Music and more
The special attractions are not limited to the side of the home. The estate itself is not open for tours during LightNights. But the Carriage House Courtyard has live music, a roaring fire for roasting s’mores (kits are available for purchase) and even an open bar.
The gardens come to life with colorful lights that change with the soothing music as guests stroll along the paths. There are lighted whimsical garden sculptures by Akron artist Joe Ott, and the Corbin Conservatory is open for tours.
Conrad said the goal is to make this an annual late-summer tradition and keep adding more lights and attractions each year.
“It is just an incredibly relaxing experience for our guests,” Conrad said.