It’s hard to miss this grand old house standing in downtown Niles. Henry A. Chapin and his wife built this beautiful queen ann home in 1882. Henry lived in it until his death in 1933 and then donated it to the city of Niles which used it as their City Hall for several years.

Chapin built one of the first general stores in the area. He did well as a merchant but it was his property in the Upper Peninsula that he gained his fortune from. In 1865 he purchased a large tract of land near Iron Mountain. A vast deposit of iron ore was discovered and the Chapin Mine was opened. “Mr. H.A.” as he was known, received up to $300,000 yearly in royalties from the mine. The house is now used as a historical museum.

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Located around Charlevoix are some unique houses constructed out of stone with thatched roofs. Many people refer to them as the “mushroom houses” because of their unique construction. They were built by self-taught builder Earl Young using locally sourced building materials. One of the more interesting houses he built is known as the ” Half House ” because it has a flat wall on one side like it was sliced in half. The houses are privately owned and not open to tourists, but driving around town you can see some of the whimsical looking homes.

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Traveling along the sunrise side of the state I came across the beautiful old victorian home on U.S. 23 south of Harrisville. Now the Springport Inn, it was the home of  Civil war captain Joseph Van Buskirk.  Joseph served as a Captain with the 2 Michigan Infantry Company-F. He enlisted on April 23, 1861 in Flint, Michigan at age 25. After the war, he moved to Harrisville and Built this magnificent home for his family in 1877.  Van Buskirk was a prominent local businessman in the area until his death in 1905 and was laid to rest in the Springport Cemetery.

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I have seen some houses and buildings around the Mitten State that have been constructed using local field stones and rocks. This one is unique because the stones were shaped to be square and rectangle blocks. It was difficult for laborers to hand chisel these rocks into shape but it is a beautiful work of masonry.

The house is located in the town of Hart near US-31 east of Silver Lake. It was constructed in the late 1800s for a local physician and druggist Harvey Jenner Chadwick. It later became the home of L.P. Munger, a physician and fruit-grower. It eventually became the offices of the Health Department for Oceana County and in the 1980s it became part of the Oceana County Historical Society.

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Not far from downtown Flint is the ornate brick house. The historical marker standing in front of it gives some of its history.

The central portion of this handsome Victorian home was built in the late 1850s. Several prominent Flint families lived in it before Robert J. Whaley purchased it in 1884. Whaley a local lumberman and banker, remodeled the house extensively. Three bays, the library alcove and a west-end addition were among the exterior changes. The interior was enhanced by adding ornate woodwork and colorful tiled fireplaces. In 1925, Whaley’s wife endowed the house, making it a home for elderly women. In 1975 it became a public museum.

Robert J. Whaley was born in Castile, New York, in 1840. He moved to Wisconsin with his family in the 1840s, then returned to New York. There he met and married Mary McFarlan of Flint. Whaley and his bride moved to Flint in 1867. Here, he joined his father-in-law in lumbering and later banking. He purchased this gracious structure in 1884. Serving as president of Flint’s Citizens Bank for forty-one years, Whaley was also a trustee for the Michigan Charitable Schools, a Mason, an Elk and a 1912 Democratic candidate for state treasurer. He died in 1922.

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Driving into Ludington I passed several beautiful old houses. This Victorian painted lady really caught my eye. Built in 1889, by Dr. Frank and Fanny Allen Latimer the house is now a bed and breakfast known as The Inn at Luddington.

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Oil tycoon Harry Boyd Earhart and his wife Carrie built this mansion near Ann Arbor. The house was completed in 1936 and featured Pewabic tile created for the Earharts by Marry Chase Perry Stratton. The Lutheran Church ~ Missouri Synod purchased 234 acres of the Harry and Carrie Earhart estate in 1961 to construct the campus of Concordia College. The four-year liberal arts college opened in 1963. The manor initially served as a student activity center and housed faculty offices Although.  Much of the original house remains intact, including decorative plaster, hardware, crystal chandeliers, and the Pewabic tile elements: two “medieval” family crests, a metallic-glazed tile fountain, and the master bathroom.

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