Kendal at Oberlin Blog

For many of us, buying a starter house years ago meant taking a crash course in homebuying  101. Mortgage points? PMI? Title insurance? Closing costs? We had a lot to learn, but most of us passed the test and made a sound financial decision.

Grab a friend or a friendly group and head to Cleveland, a lakefront city rocking and rolling with lots to do day and night. It doesn’t matter if you and your friends are foodies or cultural enthusiasts, nature lovers or sports fans, this North Coast city will more than satisfy your hunger.

Ed and Anne Wardwell’s marriage began in 1970, and so did their affection for canoeing.

For years they explored the Cuyahoga River and other waterways near their home in Shaker Heights. Now residents of Kendal at Oberlin, the couple heads south to Findley State Park in Wellington or north to their favorite spot, Old Woman Creek in Huron.

Heading south on the main road leading into Oberlin, a historical marker greets you:

“Oberlin Town and College Founded 1833.

First to Welcome Male and Female Students of All Races.”

The city was considered a safe place for escaped slaves and home to many ardent abolitionists and women’s rights pioneers. As the gay rights movement got underway in the early 1970s, Oberlin College was in the forefront.  

Megan Caracciolo was looking for a meaningful internship that would further her college studies in gerontology.

Retired geriatric physician Lal Arora was looking for a meaningful opportunity to use his expertise.

Kendal residents Robert Taylor and Ted Nowick have been partners since 1975.  

“As you can see, the LGBT community here at Kendal at Oberlin has grown significantly since 2003, when Ted and I moved here as the first openly gay residents,” Robert told a recent crowd of several hundred people who had gathered to hear personal stories from Kendal’s gay, lesbian and transgender residents.

Northern Ohio residents can get away for a day and feel like they’ve been gone a week. We have a Great Lake in our backyard or we can step back in time, explore a big city and escape into nature.

Every summer Kendal at Oberlin residents and staff combine fun with fitness for a weeklong celebration of creativity, camaraderie and non-competitiveness.  

Kendal at Oberlin residents are a creative bunch, and the biennial “Kendal Creates” celebrates their collective creativity.

They are photographers, painters and potters, woodworkers and fiber artists, and more.

Sheila Eckstein has sketched and painted her way through Oberlin and the Southwest states. Two very different landscapes for sure, but using watercolors and mixed media sketches she finds colors and patterns to illuminate their special features.