Hudson in Summit County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Baldwin-Buss House
1825
Hudson History Preserved
Photographed by Craig Doda, December 7, 2025
1. Baldwin-Buss House Marker
Inscription.
Baldwin-Buss House. Construction of this high-style Federal house began in 1825 with the plain south ell, followed by the far more decorative north main block. Master builder Lemuel Porter incorporated classical design features in the latter, including Ionic pilasters, modillions, a distinctive lunette, and an elaborately carved Federal door surround with fanlight, all found in architectural pattern books of the era. Only three families owned the house over its 191 years of residential occupancy: builder Augustus Baldwin (1825-1871) was a prosperous early Hudson merchant, John Buss (1871-1907) owned a popular nearby general store, and the Carano - Merino families (1907-2020) who emigrated from Naples, Italy and shared the house. Rich Merino, a colorful local wine merchant, was the last in the family line to live in the house. Upon his death in 2016, a group of Hudson residents formed the Baldwin-Buss House Foundation and staged a campaign to raise public awareness and the funds needed to preserve Hudson's second oldest standing house. Hudson-based Peg's Foundation helped by acquiring the house and adjacent property in 2019. Working together, the two Foundations restored the original footprint and appearance of the house, and the interior was adaptively rehabilitated for contemporary use. The Baldwin - Buss House is listed as a contributing building in Hudson's National Register Historic District and is documented in the Historic American Buildings Survey.
Construction of this high-style Federal house began in 1825 with the plain south ell, followed by the far more decorative north main block. Master builder Lemuel Porter incorporated classical design features in the latter, including Ionic pilasters, modillions, a distinctive lunette, and an elaborately carved Federal door surround with fanlight, all found in architectural pattern books of the era. Only three families owned the house over its 191 years of residential occupancy: builder Augustus Baldwin (1825-1871) was a prosperous early Hudson merchant, John Buss (1871-1907) owned a popular nearby general store, and the Carano - Merino families (1907-2020) who emigrated from Naples, Italy and shared the house. Rich Merino, a colorful local wine merchant, was the last in the family line to live in the house. Upon his death in 2016, a group of Hudson residents formed the Baldwin-Buss House Foundation and staged a campaign to raise public awareness and the funds needed to preserve Hudson's second oldest standing house. Hudson-based Peg's Foundation helped by acquiring the house and adjacent property in 2019. Working together, the two Foundations restored the original footprint and appearance of the house, and the interior was adaptively rehabilitated for contemporary use. The Baldwin - Buss House is listed as a contributing building in Hudson's
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National Register Historic District and is documented in the Historic American Buildings Survey.
Erected 2024.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Architecture. A significant historical year for this entry is 1825.
Location. 41° 14.445′ N, 81° 26.476′ W. Marker is in Hudson, Ohio, in Summit County. It is at the intersection of Park Lane and North Main Street, on the right when traveling east on Park Lane. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6 Park Ln, Hudson OH 44236, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Cleveland and in the Western Reserve. It is also in the American Midwest. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 21, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 21, 2025, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 53 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on December 21, 2025, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A link to the National Register nomination form with a citation of the house's historical significance. • Can you help?
