The second floor consisted of family rooms, with the master bedroom, dressing room, bathroom and sitting room all connected.  There was a bathroom for the guests to the right of the stairs leading to their bedchambers.  At the top of the main staircase was a bedroom used by Donn’s cousin, Virginia Piatt who was a companion to Ella.  In the East Tower room was the Catholic Chapel.  A circuit riding Priest would come and provide services for them.  The West Tower room could be used to read, write or draw as it was filled with light and offered beautiful view.  In the side hallway was Donn’s Den where he would do work and write.  At the end of this hallway were several steps down to three rooms that were the servants sleeping quarters.  Back then, the servants never lived on the same level as those who owned the house. 
 
On the third floor were two elegant guest bedrooms.  Both had a sink and the bed was back in a cubby hole and during the day a curtain would be drawn covering the bed area and the room used as a sitting room.  There were two tower rooms for the guests to use while they visited and they could see for quite a distance.  Donn had a private study on the fourth floor West side tower room which was one room and very small.  In the middle of the third floor wide hall was a small hallway that led to the guest’s maids sleeping quarters, so they would be close at hand when needed.  Here too, were a couple of steps down with a room on either end and with trunk storage in between. 
 
The farm was situated behind the house over the hill which consisted of outbuildings and a barn or two.  Donn raised animals as well as several kinds of crops.  During their time at Mac-O-Chee Castle, when not entertaining, Donn continued to write and Ella, an artist, to draw and paint.
 
Donn died in November of 1891 from an illness.  Folks came from miles around to pay their respects with the funeral procession running from Mac-O-Chee Castle to the Piatt Cemetery over a mile away.  Ella continued to live in the castle for five more years but it was too big and lonely for just her so she had another house built overlooking the castle from the hill across the road. 
 
Ella put the castle up for sale in September of 1896.  Items from the house, livestock, farm machinery and several farm outbuildings were all sold.  The first owner was Dr. Thurman who ran a health spa for the wealthy.  He added on to the one room stone lodge at the end of the walk that Donn used for a writing retreat during warm weather and used that for his office, exam rooms and it was where he lived.  His guests stayed in the castle and enjoyed relaxing in the country.  After two or three years Dr. Thurman died and his son sold the property.
 
The next owner was Graham Denmead from Columbus who purchased the property so his children could grow up in the country.  He added the second floor over Thurman’s house and lived there.  Later he rented the castle to the Blackwell family and they lived in the back of the house and farmed the property for Denmead.  People driving past the house and would stop and ask to see the castle so Denmead opened it for tours with the Blackwell family showing people through the house. 
 
Denmead sold the Castle and the property was purchased by two different people.  The Smucker Sisters bought the house next to the castle and lived there for many years running a craft and art store from the barn.   In 1945 the castle was purchased by Cameron Turner from Florida.  Cameron was a wealthy lady who brought four tons of large, heavy Mediterranean style furniture to the castle. She had tours of the house to showcase her furniture.  Occasionally she stayed at the castle and chose the bedroom at the top of the front stairs.  Turner died in the mid 1950’s so once again the Castle was up for sale. 
 
Thankfully, Mac-O-Chee Castle was bought back in the 1960’s by descendants of Donn’s brother Abram, Bill and Jim Piatt.  They purchased furniture following the pictures that Ella took of the rooms; if not original it’s as close to time period as they could.  They started offering tours at Mac-O-Chee and have been doing so ever since. 
 
As with any 150+ year old building Mac-O-Chee Castle shows the wear of time, but is still worth visiting.  Take a step back in time to a different era and catch a glimpse of how Donn and Ella spent their time in their grand old country home. ​

The children included oldest daughter Hannah who did not want to move to the country and youngest daughter Martha who loved the novelty of change.  Daughter Arabella McCullough and her daughter Elizabeth who was visiting them at the time, was excited for her parent’s new venture.  Eight year old son Donn and Abram at six years old were the two youngest in the family. The servant girl, Patsey Jackson also traveled with them.  The oldest son, Wykoff was already established as a lawyer in Cincinnati. 
 
Benjamin was a court circuit Judge which required him travelling a lot. He also built a saw mill on his farm property and had an orchard which he took great care of. Elizabeth set up house for the family, making durable rugs that lasted for many years.  She also worked on the landscaping, with walks, planted hedges, fish pond, flowers beds and borders of roses, Lilacs and wax-berries.  

The family moved temporarily to Cincinnati so the younger boys could get the proper schooling.  The farm was rented to Mr. Seig with the understanding that Benjamin and his family would live with him during the summer months.  Benjamin practiced law with his son, Wykoff while in Cincinnati.     
 
Three years later the family returned to the farm for good.   They discussed building a new home but too many memories of the cabin won and a compromise was made to update the outside by adding weather board and plaster to the inside. 
 
At this time Benjamin built a mill for flour making, a huge barn, tenant houses and other buildings.  Near the front gate was Benjamin’s law office, where Donn studied law from his father.  The home had many visitors over the years and the family enjoyed picnics at “Bald Knob” and “Squaw Rock”. They had driving and riding parties with their ponies; Blue, Dick and Fidget and fun with the pet dog, Fuz. 
 
Benjamin and Elizabeth also took care of Abram’s children after the death of his wife during his service in the Civil war.  Over the years, besides their children and grandchildren who lived with them they also adopted orphans or took others children into their home for a total of seventeen. 
 
Benjamin passed away on April 28th, 1863 when he was eighty four years of age after a carbuncle developed.  Three years to the day Elizabeth passed away at eighty six in 1866 from natural causes.  As family passed away into death the little cabin sat empty of the life that made it a cherished, loving home. 
 
Then in 1975 the property was bought by Dave and Jane Younkman who were planning on building a home nearby.  They discovered the house, falling apart, covered in brush and brambles, barely recognizable as it once was and discussed what they should do with it.   After researching the property and finding out the history of the cabin in the woods the Younkman’s restored the home and opened an antique gift shop called, “The Pioneer House.”  They shared the cabin’s history with their customers. 
 
Jane’s health declined so the cabin property was sold on February 20th, 2004 to Matthew Jones.  It was thought he would keep the gift shop business going but sold it instead.   Michael Kuntz and family purchased the property on December 29, 2008 and were the first to live in the house after many years.  They added the full bath and updated the kitchen in the home.