205 South Ann Arbor Street
Date of Construction: 1858

Photo by Cynthia Christensen
October 2012

Architectural Description: This is a two-story, center gabled, Gothic Revival style house. Stylistic features on this house include the steep pitch of both the roof and center gable and the decorative pointed-arch eaves. The double windows and decorative trim lends a lancet window effect. The house is wood framed with a stucco veneer exterior and has half-timbering on the side gables. The existing exterior stuccowork on the house took place in 1912, while under the ownership of Mr. Cook (National Register Nomination Form). The partial width front porch has a flat roof, concrete supports and a concrete balustrade. One of the best remaining examples of its type in Saline, this house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

History and Significance: The owner was Samuel Van Duzer, who built the house in 1858 and lived in it for fifty years. According to his obituary in the Saline Observer (dated October 2, 1908), Mr. Van Duzer was "at one time a partner with Thomas Sanford in the dry goods business, but spent the better part of his life as a clerk and bookkeeper." Mr. Van Duzer helped to establish the Saline Village by-laws in 1866 and served as a trustee of the first Village Board in that same year. Three years after Mr. Van Duzer’s death in 1908, the house was sold to Mr. and Mrs. George V. Cook. Mr. Cook served as president of the Village of Saline, as well as a Justice of the Peace. He owned a livery business on East Michigan Avenue in Saline, which eventually expanded to the Saline Garage, and a Chevrolet dealership.

Sources:
"Historic District Study Committee Report for the South Ann Arbor Street Local Historic District." 2007.

Kosky & Glynn Associates. "Intensive Survey, South Ann Arbor Street, Saline, Michigan." 1994.

Saline Observer, October 2, 1908. Clark Historical Library Newspaper Collection. http://condor.cmich.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15076coll5.

Sommers, Laurie. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Historic Resources of Saline, Michigan--Partial Inventory: Historic and Architectural Properties." National Park Service. 1985.

Suggested Reading: McAlester, Virginia, and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.

Prepared by Lori Swick
April 17, 2013