In 1876, James A. Garfield bought this 118-acre farm in the rural village of Mentor, Ohio, and soon purchased an additional 40 acres. Over the next four years, Garfield doubled the size of the house and made it a home for his wife, Lucretia, their family, and Garfield's mother, Eliza. During the 1880 presidential campaign, reporters called Garfield's home "Lawnfield." After President Garfield's assassination in 1881, Lawnfield gradually changed. Lucretia sold about half the farm in 1908, and family heirs reduced its size to less than 8 acres as the Cleveland suburbs grew around Mentor. The family donated the property to the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1936. In 1980, Congress established James A. Garfield National Historic Site to memorialize the life of the twentieth President. James A. Garfield Home "Lawnfield" has been designated a Registered National Historic Landmark under the provisions of the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935. This site possesses exceptional value in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States.
