Historic buildings, Ann Arbor, Michigan / by Marjorie Reade and Susan Wineberg.

322 East Washington Street
188 7 Jacob Hoffstetter House
~.h ~ The Jacob Hoffstetter house
Sis none of the most handsomely
detailed of Ann Arbor's 1880s
i houses. A rare survivor of the
nineteenth century neighborhood that once surrounded it,
it is one of the best preserved
of any age remaining in the
downtown. Built of red brick
and set high on a coursed ashlar foundation, its windows
are capped by segmental arches and carved stone keystones.
Oculus windows and kingpost
gable ornaments with pierced trefoil designs decorate the front and side gables,
while bracketed cornices crown the bay windows, all features of the Queen
Anne style popular in this period.
The structure was built for Jacob Hoffstetter, who settled in Ann Arbor in
1854 with his parents, Christian and Mary. The family was among a large
number of German immigrants whose settlement had a great impact on the
early development of Ann Arbor. They were also part of a small group of
Germans who converted to Presbyterianism shortly after their arrival.
Jacob Hoffstetter established a grocery store and saloon on Main Street in
1872, worked hard, and eventually became prosperous. Until the mid-1880s,
he and his wife and two sons lived above the store. In 1887, he sold the family
business and moved into this new house. One year later he rented part of it to
the newly organized fraternity of Alpha Tau Omega, which made its home
here from 1888-1894.
When the house was divided into apartments in 1937, a new entrance was constructed at the southeast corner. Though interior remodelling was extensive,
much of the original wood trim remained intact. In 1980 the house was purchased and restored by Peter Heydon who also restored the former parsonage
next door (see 161). Mr. Heydon was honored the next year by the Historical
Society of Michigan for his work "in preserving and developing.., historic
properties on Washington Street and for finding an adaptive reuse for them."
NR, IHP

131