Built to resemble a medieval English manor house, the Gallun mansion is one of the largest and most substantially built private residences in the city. The house was built for millionaire tannery owner Albert Gallun, whose family occupied it into the 1960s. Extraordinary construction and fine detailing make the residence remarkable. The sixteen-inch-thick first-story and twelve-inch-thick second-story exterior walls are solid limestone, backed on the interior with four-inch-thick hollow clay tiles that insulate and add fire protection.
The main entrance, facing N. Marietta Avenue, has carved Bedford limestone trim. A wrought-iron fence in a limestone base leads around the corner to the picturesque Newberry Boulevard facade. Medieval English details include false half-timbered gables, a limestone pointed-arch arcade that wraps the Lake Drive side, and a slate roof laid in the traditional Cotswold style. Following a fire in 1970, the house’s interior was restored according to the architects’ original plans for English-style woodwork, stone, plasterwork, and a solid limestone main staircase.