Category: Free Tour

219 North Main Street

c. 1865

This building was built in 1865 and has had many uses over the years. From the late 1800s until 1987, the building was owned by the Starkweather family.  Helen Starkweather, an art and drafting teacher in the Romeo schools for over 30 years, was the last person to reside in the building. Upon her death in 1987, the building was bequeathed to the Romeo Historical Society with the stipulation that it be used as a community art center. The Starkweather Society was formed and with contributions of time, labor and funds from many sources, the first floor was opened as an art center in November, 1999.

Helen Starkweather used this back space of the building as her living quarters, and she made many changes to the building.  The front angle door was added on Main Street, and the living space was changed into an “Arts & Craft” Decor with the addition of the bay window and fireplace in the fireplace room and pannelled walls and Craftsman windows in the dining room and kitchen.  The ceilings were also dropped.  The small room off the Dining Room was Helen’s bedroom, and is now used as an office.  It has a closet and a set of built in drawers.  The bathtub was removed from the bathroom and the room was reconfigured.

The upstairs Gallery was used as a warehouse and was converted into apartments in the 1940s.  The north side and south front rooms were one apartment and a two room apartment was in the southwest rooms.  A wall divided the front two rooms and has been removed, along with three layers of ceilings to create our upstairs gallery and music performance area.  The windows were restored in 2008 to their original “two over two” configuration and the flooring was replaced with block grant funding.

The pine floors in the Landing Room are original and were restored. The Starkweather Society said that it isn’t sure where the Victorian mantle is from…it may have been removed from the main floor when Helen added the Craftsman mantle.  We also have an art classroom and storage area.  Musicians use it as a “warm up” room on open mic nights.

The courtyard garden was restored by the Questers in 1995 and included the restoration of the three iron gates and window well grates.  An iron fence was added between the gates replacing a wire one.  Plantings were donated by Wiegand’s Nursery in Macomb.

The Carriage House dates from the 1930’s.  The building was designed by Helen using salvaged bricks from a demolished Romeo mansion – the same building where she rescued the fantastic iron gates.  The beams came from her family barns that sat on the current Village Park site.  Helen used this building as her art studio.  The pew is the Starkweather pew from the Methodist Church… half is installed in the upstairs loft and the other half is upstairs in the Gallery.

Note the iron work on the beam overhead and the brackets on the stairs.

The basement was dug out by Claire Tincknell, after the building was built. Claire worked as a handyman for Helen.  He said he was never allowed to purchase new wood, he was to use what she had salvaged! He and his wife lived in the large apartment in the upstairs in the 1940’s.

When Helen died in 1987 at the age of eighty-four, she left her estate to the ​Romeo Historical Society and the Village of Romeo. Her will stipulated that her home and studio at 219 North Main Street be used as an art and cultural center “…dedicated to promoting and fostering the appreciation of art and artisans and to support the preservation of the character and quality of the Village”.

In 1989, the Board of Trustees incorporated the Starkweather Society, a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to fulfilling the wishes expressed in Ms. Starkweather’s will. On November 13, 1999, Ms. Starkweather’s former home and studio was officially opened to the public as the Starkweather Arts Center. The Center includes two beautiful exhibit galleries and a sales gallery as well as a second floor gallery for art education and performance area. ​

To learn more about the Starkweather Art Center as wells as its hours, visit https://www.starkweatherarts.com/

107 Church Street

c. 1910 – Old English

The S. F. Kezar family, natives of Unger, Maine, lived in Romeo during the 1890s. After Mr. Kezar’s death, his wife and daughter moved to San Francisco where they acquired a considerable inheritance from Mrs. Kezar’s brother and donated the Kezar Sports Stadium in that city and the Memorial Library in Romeo. H. R. Whitfield, a New York architect specializing in library designs, developed the plan which was to imitate “an Old English Inn” and lumbterbaron Henry Stephens II donated $1,000 for books. The Romeo Observer rhapsodized in May 1910. “we imagine that when it ill partially overgrown with vines and surrounded by shrubs it will be ideally beautiful. A restful retreat for book lovers old or young, and the embodiment of all that is desirable in a library.”

301 North Bailey Street

c. 1870 – Late Greek Revival

In May, 1882, Fred Engel resigned his position as head tinsmith in the hardware store of J. R. Moreland and established himself in this tin shop. For years, Engel, (1829-1923), produced the finest copper tea kettles and other metal Items that were available in Romeo. n 1919 Clyde Craig acquired Engel’s shop and turned it into a blacksmith shop which he ran until the late 1960s. The shop probably was built c. 1870 and is late Greek Revival in style.

The shop is now operated by the Romeo Historical Society and is open on some Saturdays. Check their website at http://romeohistoricalsociety.org/ for hours and details.

132 Church Street

c.1868 – Greek Revival

This is the recommended start and finishing point of the walking tour. There is parking available on the street near the Congregational Church and the museum as well as around the corner around the village park on North Rawles. There is a parking lot behind the museum/church that is available for public use.

The tour has been split into north and south segments of approximately 45 stops each. If you wish to do the complete tour, start with the North Tour and then continue to the South Tour when prompted at the end of the North Tour.

Click here to go to the next stop on the North Tour –>

Click here to go to the next stop on the South Tour –>

The Romeo Historical Society uses this house as a museum and meeting place. The late Greek Revival resi­ dence was probably built by Dr. Randolph S. Bancroft, a dentist, sometime after he acquired the property in May, !867. Andrew J. Stranahan, a builder, acquired the residence in December 1870. Evidently a common Victorian custom was the “unexpected social”. The Romeo Observer in February 1888 noted  that “Friends and neighbors and acquaintances of Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Stranahan, to the number of 40 or 50, met at their residence on Monday night with well filled baskets and proceeded after the most approved fashion to have a good time. Mr. and Mrs. Stranahan were somewhat surprised, but came up to the situation gracefully, and entertained their guests after their usual kindly and hospitable manner.”