SHAKER LIFE | WINTER 2015 37
The
Architect
Harry L. Shupe,
born in rural Richland County
in 1876, was an accomplished
architect in Greater Cleveland
in the teens and 1920s –
which also happened to be a
busy home-building time in
the new and desirable suburb
of Shaker Heights, where
Shupe was particularly active
professionally.
Shupe was largely
forgotten until two
residents, Dozie Herbruck
and Pat Agatisa, took
it upon themselves to
find out who he was.
Nearly 70 years after his
death in 1945, next to nothing
was known about the man the
two women call “the elusive
architect” of Shaker Heights.
Their quest was not simply a
matter of idle curiosity;
both live in Shupe-designed
homes on South Woodland
Road, directly next door to
each other on Green Lake
(aka the duck pond).
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN G. REEVES
BY RORY O’CONNOR