It begins with the sound of a singing bowl. A long, deep tone reverberates throughout the circular room while participants settle into a reflective state. For the rest of the hour, quiet meditation. Dr. Ellen O. Bierhorst — owner of the Lloyd House, which hosts a weekly Buddhist-style meditation and other wellness programs — won’t declare herself the leader, but is always the one to convene the group.
There is no music, drums, incense or frills, only the whisk of a mallet around the edge of a bronze bowl. The hour is timed in 10-minute increments; soft bells that initiate a change of position or a gentle walk around the room signify transitions. A simple practice that requires concentration instills mindfulness, a popular topic discussed in the post-meditative tea circle.
“Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose from moment to moment without being judgmental or reactive,” says Timothy Raine, a regular meditation-goer. “The group supports others who are interested in meditation and it seems to me that a period of digestion (after the session) is beneficial to everybody; it helps build a sense of community.”
The Lloyd House has been a hub for many happenings over the years: community potluck dinners, small concerts, weddings. In the late 1960s and early 1970s it housed The Independent Eye, an underground newspaper on which Bierhorst was the production manager.
But the house is not just a vessel for events. Architect James W. McLaughlin, who also designed the original Cincinnati Art Museum, built the house in 1888. (The CAM opened in 1886, marking it as one of the oldest art museums in the U.S.) A plaque in the front yard proclaims its spot on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. The history of the owners adds a thread of commonality that is a little more than coincidental, according to Bierhorst.
“There’s a mystique about the house,” she says. “If there was a spirit hovering over the house that wanted it to be used in certain ways, it was because of me that my family bought it and that I became a holistic psychologist.”
The house “mysteriously” sat on the market for a number of years, she says lightly. Up until her family bought it in 1957 it “repelled other buyers.”
It could be said that the original owner, Dr. John Uri Lloyd, unleashed this mystique. A pharmacist and novelist, Lloyd inhabited the house in the 1920s and ’30s. He had a special interest in eclectic medicine, herbalism and botanical remedies. In the 1870s, he even founded downtown’s Lloyd Library and Museum — which covers those topics — along with his brothers Nelson Ashley and Curtis Gates Lloyd.
Bierhorst earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Cincinnati. She practices with a holistic approach to wellness, she says, and although she does not limit services to anyone in particular, she has been proud to serve many sub-culture groups. Since starting her private practice more than 40 years ago, some of her clients include polyamorous couples and people recovering from addiction.
The interior of the 130-year-old house is just as impressive as its exterior, marked by Richardsonian Romanesque-style architecture. A winding, grand staircase, royal crown moldings and numerous ornate fireplaces are just a few of its outstanding characteristics.
In an effort to learn more about the house and preserve memories Anna Cher Simon — one of Bierhorst’s three children — began taking photos of the house on her visits home. Simon is turning her collection of photographs into a memoir. Each chapter recounts a room in the house, while the photos highlight architectural details and décor. Although the book has no title or release date yet, she hopes to find a publisher soon.
“I realized through these photography exercises that I had amazing memories and stories associated with every room in the house,” Simon says. “That’s what got me thinking that perhaps it would be an interesting read for other people, too.”
Simon recalls rollerblading in the third-floor turret room, now used for meditation (Bierhorst calls it the Zen-do Room); it also just so happens to be Dr. Lloyd’s original office, Bierhorst says.
Three of the 15 rooms in the house are rented to private tenants while the main floor is mostly used for community gatherings. It’s also where Bierhorst sees patients for psychotherapy and the Alexander Technique — for which she’s been a certified practitioner since 2009. The practice was named after its creator, Frederick Matthias Alexander, as a way to retrain a patient’s habitual movement and posture. Through the placing of the hands, it rids tension and painful ailments of the body.
The offering of wellness programs like these parallel the pioneering and often alternative methods of healing used by Lloyd decades ago, which Bierhorst is eager to carry on in her own way.
“I am 77 years old and I would like to live the rest of my life here,” she says. “But it’s hard to imagine that I could afford to live here post-retirement. My dream, which is also a holistic use for the house, is to have a little community of people who would live and dine here. ”
It would serve as an interactive retirement community, she goes on to explain wistfully, that would combine individuals’ skills in order for them to thrive in the home where she grew up and continues to flourish.
The Lloyd House is located at 3901 Clifton Ave., Clifton. For more info and updates on weekly class offerings, visit lloydhouse.com.
