318 West Forest Avenue
Ave Maria President’s House

The exterior of this lovely Italianate house, probably built in 1876, has been painted a cheerful yellow. Passersby are drawn to the house—which looks both imposing and approachable—by its stately style and sunny demeanor.

The records at the Ypsilanti Historical Museum for 318 West Forest are sketchy. Josiah Rosencrantz acquired the land from the United States government in 1825. A mortgage was recorded on October 12, 1876, and the dollar value of the property jumped significantly—a strong hint that a house had been built on it. The year 1876 also makes sense for an Italianate-style house.

After years of sordid neglect, the house has fallen on good times. In 1998 Ave Maria College bought the property, transforming it into a home for the college president and his family. The main floor of the house is used for public receptions; and it has a pleasant, open room at the back where students gather.

Tourgoers will love seeing the attractively decorated and comfortable interior. The fabulous new kitchen on the main floor will thrill any homeowner, not to mention any caterer. The president’s quarters on the second floor are open for the tour. The space includes a living/dining area under a vaulted ceiling, a master suite, a small office, and several other rooms.

Ave Maria College has rescued an important Italianate treasure in Ypsilanti. When the college bought it, the house was condemned and in a state of “horrific, unimaginable filth and squalor,” says Dave Kelley, an Ave Maria vice president. The Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation is delighted today to bring tourgoers into a house that so well exemplifies successful historic preservation.
 

108 North Huron Street
Bonnie and Ed Penet

The lovely brick Italianate house at 108 North Huron was built in the 1850s. William B. Clarke bought the house in 1860. The Clarke family and their descendants lived there until 1934, when the house was sold and fell on hard times. Lawyers eventually leased the house for office space.

When Bonnie Penet bought the house in 1979, it had been divided into four apartments. She married Ed Penet in 1983, and the house became their joint project. A catastrophic fire in November 2000 was a daunting setback but also an opportunity. Today, fully recovered from the fire, the house has new windows (the window frames in the living room in the front are original), oak flooring on the first floor (replacing the old pine that remains upstairs), a new banister, and a new overhang over the front door. In the modernized kitchen, both counter and cupboard space has been expanded. Friends of the Penets designed the rose motif sidelights that flank the front door. Bonnie and Ed have planted rose bushes nearby to compliment the windows.

Bonnie Penet’s whimsical artwork is everywhere in the house. Ed’s stage background is reflected in the modern theatrical lighting in the new dining room. The couple own lovely antique Asian artwork and furniture, tribal rugs from Iran and Afghanistan, and African masks. Be sure to notice the lacquered Asian plate on a wall in the living room. 

Two interesting architectural highlights for tourgoers: the house does not have any load-bearing walls and the walls are twelve inches thick. Even though Huron is a busy street, the house is surprisingly quiet.
 

9 and 11 West Michigan Avenue
Eleven West Salon and Spa • Flour Mill Apartments

This year’s tour revisits the Flour Mill Building in downtown Ypsilanti, recently renovated by Phoenix Contractors, Inc., and considered a landmark at the eastern
gateway to the historic Michigan Avenue business district. 

In 2001, tourgoers took a look at the three newly completed but empty two-story loft apartments, each with picturesque views of the Huron River, historic downtown, and the anticipated Water Street neighborhood development. Now comes the opportunity to see one of these unique and delightful apartments furnished. Tenants Darin Latimer and Carolina Lopez have embellished their apartment with an eclectic mix of art and antiques.

The elegant new Eleven West Salon and Spa on the ground floor will also be open. Tourgoers will notice how creatively the contemporary salon design has blended with the historic features of the old mill.

This building was constructed in 1888 as the O. A. Ainsworth and Co. Feed Mill and Grain Storage at 514 and 516 Congress Street. Owner Oliver A. Ainsworth contracted the Detroit architectural firm of Mason & Rice to build the structure, which features striking Romanesque arches and a prominent roofline—both showing the influence of renowned architect H. H. Richardson. Mason & Rice also designed the neighboring Ypsilanti Savings Bank (today the Ypsilanti City Hall) and Starkweather Chapel in Highland Cemetery.

The Ainsworth mill operated until about 1910. Since that time, the building has served as a feed and grain store, general store, lumber business, and numerous restaurants.

Bill Kinley, owner of Phoenix Contractors, Inc. of Ypsilanti, purchased the property in 2000 and spearheaded its redevelopment as a vibrant mixed-use property. He worked closely with architect Gary Cooper of Cooper Design Associates to ensure the building’s continued historic integrity.
 

229 West Michigan Avenue
Ypsilanti District Library
Michigan Avenue

This old post-office building is typical of the classical revival style common to government buildings of the first half of the twentieth century. Its design owes much to the Beaux-Arts tradition prized by architects trained in Paris at the end of the nineteenth century.

The building’s current occupant, the Ypsilanti District Library–Michigan Avenue, used to feel like a library that had been made to fit into a former post office. Formerly the main library and now a branch, it reopened earlier this year after a splendid makeover. Patrons discovered a brand-new, completely up-to-date, old-fashioned library in a 1915 building that gives the illusion of having been created to house it. Branch manager Meg Delaney describes this astonishing transformation as “a perfect example of adaptive reuse.”

If you’ve missed visiting the library since it reopened, or if you just want to find out more about it, please stop by today to tour it and to learn about the history of the building and its recent renovation. The Ann Arbor architecture firm David Milling and Associates did the project. Their goal was to make the library’s interior look like that of a 100-year-old building.

When you walk in your eyes will immediately go to the Egyptian/Edwardian frieze high up in the entryway. It is original to the building, and after it was cleaned and painted the frieze “popped” off the wall. Inside, the dropped ceilings are gone and the space is now open and light. As much as possible, original interior details have been preserved. The wainscoting is still there as well as the big windows. And everything new blends in beautifully with all that is old.
 
 

935 Pearl Street
Paul and Victoria Mayes

The house at 935 Pearl Street, with its delightful swooping roof, eyebrow window, and lovely landscaping radiates curb appeal. Built in 1922 for Professor William H. Sherzer of the Michigan State Normal College (today EMU) and his wife, Maude, the house is a combination of English Cotswold, American Prairie, and Arts and Crafts styles. 

Local builder Maurice Lathers collaborated with Sherzer on the house’s design and construction. Prior to 1920, Summit Street was the western edge of town. When the Sherzers built on Pearl Street, the Normal Park neighborhood was in its infancy. Their house was the first on the block between Summit and Elm streets.

The exterior of the house says “romantic English cottage,” but the interior is pure Arts and Crafts, especially the living room with its tiled fireplace.

The house was last on the tour in 1992, not long after Victoria Patterson bought it. Today she is married to Paul Mayes and they have used floor coverings, wall color, window treatments, and interesting home accents to lend a unique flare to this one-of-a-kind home.

More than a third of Vicki and Paul’s 300-piece collection of antique majolica earthenware are on display in the house. You will also notice their English Portmeirion dishes in the kitchen. Be sure to walk around all four sides of the house after you exit. The yard was a highlight of last year’s Heritage Festival garden walk. In particular, notice the giant butternut tree, the huge hostas, and the perennial border in the surprisingly spacious backyard, and the rose garden on the west side of the house. 
 

122 Linden Court
Roger and Edward Maki-Schramm

Linden Court is a cul de sac of twelve homes in the Woods Road Subdivision off of Summit Street. Built in 1930 as Linden Place, all of the houses were completed by 1931. The house at 122 Linden Court, on the northwest corner of Linden and Woods, was first owned by the family of Thaddeus McDaris. But its best-known residents were the Durant family, who lived in the house for thirty-two years. William Durant, who grew up in the house, owned the local floral business Durant Flowers for many years.

It is hard to pin architectural styles on the Linden Court houses. “Post Victorian” will do for several of them, including 122. Built in an era of pattern-book designers, mail-order houses, and speculative builders, these houses were well constructed, with plaster walls, solid wood doors, and comfortable interiors designed for family living.

Roger Maki has been an owner of 122 Linden Court since 1990. At first he and his good friend Lorelei Crawford owned and renovated the house together. In 1993 Edward Schramm bought out Lorelei. The house was a wonderful home-tour property in 1995. Much has changed since then, and 122, which includes a charming “front-of-the-house” garden, has become even more delightful.

The house feels Arts and Crafts and includes many pieces in that style, including both originals and reproductions. Savor your stroll through the three floors of 122 because there is a lot to see: wall stenciling, the Art Deco couch in the second-floor den, and a Waterfall Deco bedroom set in the second-floor bedroom are just a few examples. And don’t miss the 1930s gas stove in the kitchen, which Roger bought up north for $65 and converted from propane back to gas. On the wall in the hallway on the third
floor is a large, framed manuscript of a sixteenth-century Gregorian chant.

This fascinating, constantly evolving home is an example of what can happen when people with passion, talent, and energy buy an older house.