Category Archives: Houses

Comstock House

Posted on by Posted in autumn, Houses .

I was roaming around Marshall Michigan admiring all the old historic homes when I came across this pale yellow house blanketed in golden Autumn leaves. I figured it was an important house with the historical marker standing in the front yard. It reads:

Oliver C. Comstock Jr. (1806-1895) built this Gothic Revival house between 1849 and 1856. Comstock, born in Fairfield, New York, migrated to the Marshall area in 1836. He left a well-established medical practice in Trumansburg, New York, to start anew on the Michigan frontier. Later that year, he erected the first brick business building in Calhoun County on Exchange Street. It housed his pharmacy and office.

Oliver C. Comstock Jr. served as the state’s third superintendent of public instruction (1843-45). In 1847 he was one of the abolitionists who prevented Kentucky slaveholders’ taking the fugitive slave family of Adam Crosswhite. In 1848 he and several prominent Marshall citizens were convicted and fined for conspiracy to harbor the fugitives. Comstock was superintendent of the construction of the Michigan Central Railroad between Jackson and Kalamazoo and a founder of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society.

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The Log Cabin Hidden Inside A House

Posted on by Posted in Historic Places, Houses .

This old log cabin stands near the Shiawassee River next to the Curwood Castle. It was the first permanent residence in the settlement that became Owosso. Built in 1836, it was the home of Judge Elias Comstock and his wife, Lucy Lamson Comstock.  The cabin was the site of the first church services (Baptist) as well as the first school classes and the place where newly arrived settlers could stay until their cabins were built. Each cabin required the owner to fell forty logs after which the men of the settlement would gather to erect a cabin in one day.

The Comstocks continued to build onto their little cabin. Eventually, it was completely framed in by the house they lived in until their deaths in 1886 and 1890. The home sold a few times until the property was purchased in the 1920s for the location of a gas station. When the house was demolished the original log cabin was discovered as part of the home and used as a living room. That is when it was moved to Bently Park where it stands today.

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The Stone Home in the Thumb

Posted on by Posted in Houses, Thumb .

I think this has to be one of Michigan’s most unique houses. It is near Lake Huron south of Lexington.  This one-of-a-kind house was hand-built using stones and sand from Lake Huron by Valentine Falzon, a stonemason from Malta. The Eiffel Towers and Leaning Tower Of Pisa on the fence is an interesting design element.

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Milford Log Cabin

Posted on by Posted in Houses, Parks .

I saw this log cabin standing in Milford’s Southside Park next to the fire station. It looks like an old log cabin but according to the plaque on the front, it was built in 1982 by volunteers to celebrate the town’s sesquicentennial.

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Herman House

Posted on by Posted in Houses, upper peninsula .

This large old house-looking building sits in the town of Herman. The town (or what is left of it) is in the Huron Mountains southeast of L’Anse in the Upper Peninsula. On December 19, 1996, the town received one of the largest snowfalls in Michigan history, with 30 inches of the white stuff falling in the single da. I wonder if that is why the roof has caved in. I am also wondering if this was a boarding house. You can’t see it in this photo but the trees are covering a large portion of the building. I think this was a place where lumberjacks would have lived way back in the day. If wall could talk I wonder what stories this old place would tell.

Note. I only take pics from the road and do not trespass. If you go out exploring please be respectful.

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The Hoaston House

Posted on by Posted in autumn, Houses, upper peninsula .

Thomas H. Hoatson was the vice president of the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company that had successful mining operations in Arizona. He grew up the son of a miner in the Keweenaw and chose to live there with his family. In 1907, he built this magnificent house in Laurium as a surprise for his wife and children. It is one of the largest houses built in the Upper Peninsula with 45 rooms.  His family lived in the house until his death in 1927 and then it changed owners a few times until it was turned into a funeral home in the 1940s. In 1979 the owner of the funeral home Maynerd Hurlbut Killed his wife and grandson before killing himself. The home sat vacant for several years but was restored in the 1990s and converted into a bed and breakfast called the Laurium Manor.

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The Ruins of the Ford Family Lodge

Posted on by Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

Deep within the Highland State Recreation Area west of Pontiac are the ruins of an elaborate lodge. It once belonged to Edsel Ford and was named Haven Hill. The massive lodge was constructed in 1923 and used as a retreat by the Ford family.

After Edsel’s death in 1943, his wife Eleanor sold the estate to the state of Michigan to be used as a state park. Tragically the massive lodge was destroyed by a fire in the 1980s

Some of the foundations, stonework, and part of a stone chimney are what remains of the once glorious lodge. Circular stone markers are placed to note where the different rooms were once located. It is a fascinating site to walk around imagine what once was.

If you visit it is about a half-mile hike uphill most of the way so if you are old and slow like me, just plan on taking some time to make the climb.

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The Keepsake House

Posted on by Posted in Houses .

I was roaming around the town of Frankfort on Lake Michigan looking at all the beautiful old houses and this immaculately landscaped old house caught my eye.  I don’t know anything about the history of this house and I could not find any information on the internets but it does have a sign over the front door that reads: “Keepsake” If you are ever in the town of Frankfort, besides shopping and visiting the lighthouse be sure to drive around town and check out the old historic houses.

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The Old Brick Farmhouse

Posted on by Posted in Houses .

I saw this old farmhouse outside of Colon. I love the tall windows and the detail above them. I don’t know any history about it and the horses next to it would not talk to me.

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The Half Mushroom House

Posted on by Posted in Houses .

Located around Charlevoix are some unique houses constructed out of stone with thatched roofs. Many people refer to them as “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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