Walking Tour-76 North Main Street-Walking Tour
(Note the house number was for a time 72 N. Main)(East Side of Street)

The original section of this house was probably built by 1855 for Edward S. & Mary E. Hirst/Hurst who became owners of the Clarkston mill, buying that property from Nelson W. Clark in 1859. In 1873 Erastus Stiff bought half interest in the mill's property where "flour, feed, grain, plaster, salt & lime" were produced. By 1864 the Stiffs/Steiffs also owned this North Main Street house.

The original section of this house was built in the Greek Revival style. The 1872 map shows the footprint of a simple rectangle on the site then. This was probably the original footprint of the Hirst's residence, a two story Greek Revival style home with low-pitched roof, broken pedimented gable facing the street. The wing on the north was added later, as was the "Victorian" bay with colored glass. The house had a porch of some kind which Emil Lurch, professor of architecture at the University of Michigan discribed as "a nice porch". He further said the house "is spoiled by a later bay window". (Note: at the time this comment was made, Victorian architecture was considered by architectural critics to be inferior to earlier architectural styles.) At present there are no available photographs of this porch. The second story middle window under the street facing pediment, an obvious later alteration, is taller and more slender than the others which have the proportions typical of the Greek Revival style.

In 1978 there was an addition built to the kitchen at the rear of the house. In 1995 the barn behind the house was moved & reconstructed, and a cupola was added.

Originally the property of the house extended all the way to the shore of Park Lake. About 1914 a small summer cottage was built at the back of the lot. The property is now two separate lots.

Official Property Description:

• Lots 7 & 8 Block 23 of Nelson W. Clark's Original Plat of the Village in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 20 in Independence Township.
• Lot 28 of the Supervisor's Replat of the Northwestern Addition & part of the Original Plat.

Significant Property History:

[A Synopsis Of Property Transfers Derived From Abstracts
(when available) And Periodic Changes In Ownership Or
Assessed Value Derived From Township Tax Records]

• Note: All the properties currently located in the Historic District were originally part of a tract registered by Butler Holcomb with the federal government on October 22, 1831. Thus, abstracts for these properties, when they exist, show the original transfer to be from the United States to Butler Holcomb and may also include references to then President Andrew Jackson.
• 1842 N. W. Clark, the north part of Lot 7 & the South part of Lot 6 Block 23.
• 1844 Nelson W. Clark, Block 23, assessed value $60.
• 1846 Nelson W. Clark, Blocks 23 & 24, assessed value $250.
• 1847 Nelson W. Clark, Block 23, assessed value $50.
• 1848 Nelson W. Clark, Block 23, assessed value $15.
• 1849 Nelson W. Clark, Block 23, assessed value $50.
• 1852 as above.
• 1852 Clark to Edward S. Hirst/ Hurst
• 1855 E. S. & Mary E. Hirst/ Hurst, one acre, assessed value $625.
• 1864 Erastus & Theodocia Stiff.
• 1872 Map of the Village shows a building footprint on the site, owner E. Stiff.
• 1878 E. Stiff, assessed value $600.
• 1880 "Gerome" Allen, assessed value $1000.
• 1881 Jerome B. Allen, A. J. of Mrs. Moses Taylor.
• 1883 Moses Taylor, assessed value $1200.
• 1886 Moses Taylor , assessed value $950.
• 1888 Mrs. M. Taylor. as above.
• 1889 Mrs. Esther Taylor, assessed value $1000.
• 1896 Map of the Village, this site labeled Esther B. Taylor.
• 1899 Esther Taylor died, age 73.
• 1900 Mary M. Walter, assessed value $1200.
• 1914 Mary Walter, assessed value $2100.
• 1921 Mary Walter died, age 81.
• 1933 Esther Newland, Lots 28 & 29.
• 1940 Esther Newland.
• 1941 Walter S. Goodspeed, (Grand Rapids).
• 1954 Frank Stauter, Lots 28 & 29.
• 1978 Nelson Kimball.