House of Spirits, Marysville

Located in a Victorian home in downtown Marysville that dates to 1884, House of Spirits has the perfect look for a Prohibition-era cocktail bar. The beautiful red brick house sits prominently on Fifth Street with a rounded front porch, white trim and a lovingly refurbished interior that brings the structure back to its original state.

The building was once home to a local doctor and for years it housed a restaurant called Doc Henderson’s. When the owner retired, he sold the place to Bruce Daniels and Rick Crago, who first renovated it as Hinkley’s, before giving it another facelift and reopening it as House of Spirits in 2019.

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This story was originally published in September 2023. Details mentioned in the article, such as staff, menu items or other aspects of the business, may have changed since it was first reported. Please check with House of Spirits for the most up-to-date information before visiting.

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The hushed interior features a handsome bar lined with bourbon bottles. Side rooms with vintage furniture and fixtures offer quiet havens for sipping cocktails. Local musicians play the first and third Fridays of each month.

As the name implies, House of Spirits utilizes a cocktail-forward concept. The bar team, led by manager Hayden Owens, creates a new menu every season, crafting light, refreshing cocktails in the spring and summer and rich, warming options in the fall and winter.

“We fresh squeeze everything, make all of our syrups, do all our infusions in-house,” says Owens. “A lot of that requires seasonal items like herbs and fruits and spices.”



They also excel at the classics from Negronis to sidecars and daquiris to Aperol spritzes. You can’t go wrong ordering the house old fashioned, built around a Maker’s Mark bourbon blended especially for the Marysville cocktail bar.

To create new drinks, Owens takes a few different approaches.

“Sometimes I’ll pick a fruit I like and go from there,” he says. “We’ll pick a flavor and match it with a liquor and turn it into a cocktail. The other way is picking a classic cocktail and doing a riff on that, including doing an infusion or different flavored syrup, or adding a liqueur or taking one out.”

Owens curates a dense, two-page menu with around 250 bourbons, rye whiskeys, Irish whiskeys and Scotches. The selection is constantly rotating and is rife with unique finds. Owens is focusing on purchasing single barrels from distilleries, which get bottled and featured only at House of Spirits.

There is also a small selection of draft and bottled beer, including ales from Ohio breweries like Seventh Son Brewing Co. and Olentangy River Brewing Co. Customers will also find a short list of wines by the glass and the bottle. To supplement the libations, the kitchen produces elevated bar snacks like bacon-wrapped dates, deviled eggs, charcuterie boards, flatbreads and wings. 

318 E. Fifth St., Marysville 43040, 937/738-2088, houseofspiritsmarysville.com