History of Mountain Glen Stables

Mountain Glen Stable has a history dating back to the turn of the last century. Livingston Mather, son of noted Clevelander, Samuel Mather, grew up spending summers at the Little Mountain Club, a resort colony on the top of Little Mountain. He never forgot his love of the area. When he married he introduced his wife, Grace Harmon, to Little Mountain. She loved it as well and they began, along with their riding friends, to purchase land to create a horseback riding preserve.

Between the teens and fifties Mather accumulated about 3,000 acres on the south-eastern slopes of Little Mountain extending all the way to the banks of Big Creek and the East Branch of the Chagrin River. He focused on the special places he had learned to love as a boy. Early on he built the riding stable at the intersection of Griswold and Hermitage Road. That stable still forms the core of Mountain Glen’s trail riding program today.

Mather constructed six ponds on the property, preserved several wetlands and prevented trail erosion by constructing numerous river stone bridges and culverts. In the fifties he generously gave Stebbins Gulch to the neighboring Holden Arboretum and what today is Big Creek Park to the State of Ohio.

Today, more than 900 acres remain in the ownership of Liv’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren under the name of his beloved Mountain Glen Farm. Conservation easements have been placed on much of the land assuring its rural character in perpetuity. More than 50 miles of trails are accessible from the stable on Mountain Glen lands and on adjoining lands whose owners have shared riding privileges. We feel honored to be able to continue Liv’s legacy by opening Mt. Glen Stable and farm to like-minded souls who enjoy riding in a truly rural environment.

More than 50 miles of trails are accessible from the stable on Mountain Glen lands and on the adjoining East Branch Trail Association trails.  We feel honored to be able to continue Liv’s legacy by opening Mountain Glen Stables and farm to like-minded souls who enjoy riding in a truly rural environment.