Category: Complete Tour

419 North Main Street

c. 1856 – Greek Revival

Alvan B. Ayer (1809-1883) a native of York County, Maine settled in Romeo in 1854 wealthy from his extensive investments in Maine and Michigan timber lands. In July 1855, he purchased a lot for $475 and had constructed one of the finest late Greek Revival residences in the county. Only the porches have been slightly altered and the fencing removed since the 1859 sketch of this residence with its pleasant “salt box” carriage house.

Elizabeth Cody Stanton, the famous nineteenth century suffragette, was a house guest of the Ayer family in January, 1871. The Romeo Observer noted that Mrs. Stanton “on Saturday evening … gave a free lecture to the ladies, the large hall (Gray’s Opera House) being well filled not withstanding the inclement state of the weather. She remained over the Sabbath, a guest at Mr. Alvan B. Ayer’s and attended services at the Congregational Church and left early Monday morning for Lansing … ”

418 North Main Street

c. 1859 – Greek Revival

407 North Main Street

c. 1896 – Queen Anne

This is the largest Queen Anne style residence in Romeo and was constructed in 1896 by William Russell of Davis for Harvey Eldred (1842-1899) a retired Bruce Township farmer. Freed of the restraints of earlier styles, this building boasts comer porches and spindled verandas, stained glass windows and shingled gables. During the 1920’s, the home was owned by Judge Henry McKay whose wife kept a herd of prize goats in the back lot much to the chagrin of the neighbors.

393 North Main Street

c. 1840 – Greek Revival

202 Minot Street

c. 1891 – Queen Anne

240 Minot Street

c. 1856 (R) 1871 Italianate – Second Empire

Moses A. Giddings (1824·1911) a native of Preston, Connecticut settled in Romeo in 1846 and entered the dry goods trade. When the First National Bank of Romeo was formed in 1863, Giddings became a board member and in 1871, he was elected president. His home built c. 1856, next to his brother’s large mansion, was of the Italianate style with interiors that include marble fireplaces, elaborate plaster cornices and ornate ceiling medallions. In 1871 Giddings decided to up-date his residence by replacing the shallow Italianate roof with the more fash­ionable “French” or mansard roof.

This mansion along with its two neighbors to the north had shared for over a century a park-like setting with scores of mature oak trees and acres of sweeping lawns that combined to create a remarkable visual impact. But “progress” demanded the demolition of the Edwin W. Gid­dings mansion (July, 1967) the destruction of many of the trees, and the removal of the natural slope of the hill. In its place an apart­ment complex has been erected.

187 Turner Street

c. 1939 – Cape Cod Style

439 Prospect  Street

c. 1870 – Italianate

Ransom B. Moore, wealthy banker from Troy, New York, arrived in Romeo in 1870 and established a private bank in partnership with E. W. Giddings (Citizens National Bank after 1874). The same year he purchased from Giddings two acres of the most desirable land on “the ridge” overlooking Romeo and constructed the costliest Italianate residence in town. The Romeo Observer for January 11, 1871 noted that the Moore residence was built “in the moat substantial manner.” It was “lighted with gas” and ”warmed with pipes throughout.” Particular note was made of “the fine observatory” and the total cost of the residence was estimated at “not less than $15,000.” Two years later, Mrs. Moore died and the home was sold for $12,000 to James Gray (1843·1911) owner of lhe Opera House and Clifton Mills. In February, 1874 Mr. & Mrs. Gray held a reception in their new home and The Romeo Observer called it “the event of the season.” The home was “commodious and splendidly furn­ ished.” The food was “rich and tempting” and “excellent music supplied the wants of those who felt inclined to dance.” It was “an event to be long remembered.” In 1886, the home was sold again, this time to the widow of lumber baron Henry Stephens I. Madame Stephens (1831-1919) extended the porches, added a sun room and used the home as her “summer retreat” well into the twentieth century.

439 Morton Street

c. 1872 (R) 1940, 2016 Second Empire – Colonial

Alden Giddings (1820-1886), a native of Stafford, Connecticut, arrived in Romeo in 1857 where his older brothers, Edwin and Moses, had already achieved wealth in merchandising. Alden opened his own dry goods store and like his brothers, soon accumulated a fortune. In 1872, his “French Cottage with a full man­sard roof was completed by Romeo builder, R F. Odion. The Romeo Obseruer proclaimed it “a house of the finest architectural beauty . . . and for completeness in all its parts, beauty and variety of furnish, surpasses anything in our village.” A great variety of woods were used on the interior: “alternate strips of maple and black walnut” in the hall floor, “pine and black walnut” woodwork in the dining room, “butternut, ash and black walnut” doors, and “pine, ash, black walnut and maple” in the first floor bathroom. During the 1940’s the home was completely rebuilt in the Colonial style. In 2016, the home was completely remodeled again leaving virtually no remanent of the home built by Giddings.

441 Minot Street

c. 1959 – Modern

This is the most architecturally signifi­cant modern residence in Romeo today, yet its major feature, an enclosed garden court or “atrium” is an ancient Roman concept. Archi­tect Glen Paulsen, talented student of Eero Sa­narinen and past president of the Cranbrook Art Academy designed this home in 1959 for James Church owner of Church & Church Lumber Co.