Cincinnati has the largest collection of German-Italianate architecture outside of Manhattan, NY. 3-story brick and stone walkups fill places like Over The Rhine, Covington, KY. and the West End. Time Hill's Swiss architecture stands out; most mis-identify Time Hill as "Swiss Chalet", but it was made to as a "GUILD HALL".

In old times, trades, and more importantly, trade secrets, were taught and passed down in a very select fashion; whether parents to children, expert to understudy, tradecrafts and trade secrets need a place to gather, practice, grow, and pass down the secrets of the craft. In the Northern Hills of Germany and Switzerland grand halls were built for the watchmakers tradecraft; these large halls were called Guild Halls.

Standing out among the German Italianate architecture of Cincinnati, the old European Guild steep sloping roof keeps snow from accumulating (Cincinnati does not receive the amount of snow to require sloping roofs to this degree), while inside large windows allow rows of watchmakers to be able to work in rows under the natural light of the expansive windows.

When Gruen moved from Columbus to Cincinnati in 1898 the watchmakers worked in an office building on Fountain Square at the center of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Loud, polluted from fireplace and factory smoke, and stinky from the pork factories in early Cincinnati motivated Gruen to build a Guild Hall on a quiet hill up out of the River Valley and out of downtown.

When Gruen moved the company out of downtown Cincinnati at the time in 1913 the hills surrounding downtown were grassy-hilly countrysides of orchards & pastures. The hill that Gruen built his Guild Hall on was known as Goat Hill. As a play on the former name of the hill, the Guild was called Time Hill, and it stuck.

Like Cincinnati Watch Company, Gruen watch company imported parts and assembled the parts into watches here in Cincinnati at Time Hill. In 1948 Gruen started manufacturing their own movments here in Cincinnati, they leased space in the US Playing Card Company factory in Norwood, Ohio to place the machines and specialized staff where Gruen manufactured movments from 1948-1950

We were honored to receive a tour of Time Hill from the CEO of Light House Youth and Family Services.

Today Time Hill is the perfect home of the Light House Youth and Family Services organization.

From Time Hill Gruen moved the design of watches forward in great leaps and bounds. The first to used curved cases, Gruen was a master at rectangle and jewelry shaped watches. Several times Gruen's patent changing movement design evolved the watch industry forward. Gruen believed that everything should be beautiful as well as functional.