What seems like the middle of nowhere near the southern border of Michigan is an ornate Queen Ann mansion.  Ezra A. Beardsley was born in Monroe, Connecticut in 1839. He manufactured hats in Younkers New York.  In 1870, he moved to Michigan and purchased 650 acres of land North of Bronson. In 1874 he was married to Florence A. Holmes.  In 1887 he built the 15 room mansion where his wife and their two children raised race horses. Ezra died in 1916 and Florence in 1924. Their two children who never married lived in the house until their deaths in the 1960s. The house sold and over the years became weathered and dilapidated by the harsh Michigan weather. Some say the old home was haunted by the spirits of the Beardsley family. In 2010 a retired physician began restoring the old Beardsley house and five years later after countless hours of work the restored home was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The house is part of Ancestral Acres Lodge and rented out of social events and wedding receptions. You can see more photos of the house before and after the restoration at their website HERE. 

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This is the James Scott residence on the corner of Peterboro and Park in the Midtown District in Detroit.  James Scott’s father also named James Scott was a prominent businessman in Detroit and when he died in the 1870’s he gave a large fortune to his son. He built this house in 1887, but from what I read Mr. Scott was not the most well-respected person in Detroit. When he built his house he wanted to purchase the property south of his, when the owner would not sell it to him he built a giant wall to block the sun from reaching his neighbor’s house, that is supposedly why the south wall has no windows.

when he died in 1910 he left the city $200,000.  to build a fountain and stipulated that there needs to be a statue of him. Many of the citizens did not want to build the fountain because of the stipulation and felt he was not worthy of a statue.  Some pointed out that he apparently never worked a day in his life and was best known for the time he spent in downtown bars. eventually, it was decided to spend his money and expand Belle Isle and build a fountain.

The home eventually was converted into apartments then suffered from a fire in the ’70s and was left abandoned,  A developer completely restored the old building. It is unbelievable to see the transformation.

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This brick house with the gingerbread style roof and beautiful stained glass windows was constructed in downtown Plymouth in 1875. It was built for Henry William Baker who was the president of the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company. With windmill sales struggling the company decided to giveaway an air rifle with the purchase of every windmill.  The air rifles were more popular than the and the company became the Daisy Manufacturing Company producing BB guns in Plymouth until 1956 when new owners moved the company to Arkansas.  It was the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun that Ralphie in the movie A Christmas Story asked Santa for Christmas to which he got the response “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid”

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I was driving around Frankfort admiring the old houses. I like this one up on the hill along with several others. I don’t know its history but it is a beautiful looking old house. In the past, I have wondered if anyone else enjoys looking at old houses but since Facebook and social media I have figured out there are a lot of people the love old houses. If you are ever in Frankfort be sure to drive around and look at all the old houses, there are some real beauties there.

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This historic house now sits on the grounds of Midland County Historical Society’s Heritage Park. It originally stood near downtown Midland before it was moved to its current location. The house was built in1874 by Benjamin F. Bradley, an early businessman in Midland. He lost the house in 1921 after filing for bankruptcy and then it was purchased by St. Bridgid’s Roman Catholic Church and used it as a rectory until 1969 when they planed to demolish it for an expansion. Funds were raised and it was moved to its current location near the campus of Northwood University.

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Built by Henry & Luella Clements in 1890 on Historic Center Ave in Bay City. Henry worked with his father James and brother William at Industrial Works, designers of a rail-mounted shovel and cranes employed at the Chicago Columbian Exposition and the Panama Canal. His house is unusual in Bay City because it is one of the few Queen Anne Style homes built of brick. Instead of ornamental trim, bricks are placed in decorative patterns to accentuate the structure’s shape and composition. The first floor plate window is framed with a distinctive Romanesque arch of rusticated stone, displaying the Victorian tendency to mix styles. In 1913 Hector McKinnon, president of McKinnon Boiler and Machine Co., purchased the house, followed in 1920 by Judge Samuel Houghton, who prepared the charter that united Bay City and West Bay City

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