This massive white brick house with tan trim stands in Saginaw on Washington Avenue in The Grove neighborhood near city hall. A small red sign with the words “The Home” stands in front of it, and It is curious that it has two entryways. The house was built by Timothy B. Corning in 1872 at a cost of $25,000. Born in Wilmington Vt. he moved to Detroit when he was 19 years old. When salt operations started in the Saginaw Valley he and his wife Ann moved to East Saginaw, which is now part of the City of Saginaw. T.B. Corning was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Saginaw and owned steamers and barges transporting goods out of Saginaw.
The house was built as two separate residences for himself and his wife on one side, and his son Gurdon and his wife Ida on the other. T.B died in 1874 leaving his estate to his Wife and son, eventually they passed, and Ida inherited the house and lived in it until her death in 1917, In her will it was to be used as a home for elderly women, and it became ”The Home for the Aged”. Recently it was sold and is now a privately owned residence. I am not sure when the first duplex house was constructed in the United States but this one is historic and spectacular looking.
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