211 South Ann Arbor Street

211 South Ann Arbor Street
Date of Construction: 1892


1994 Survey Photo by Kosky & Glynn Associates
Copyright held by the City of Saline

Photo by Cynthia Christensen
October 2012

Architectural Description: This is a two-story, cross-gabled vernacular Queen Anne style house that has been appropriately restored in recent years to what it may have looked like when it was first constructed. The partial width porch on the façade contains spindlework supports, balustrade and frieze. The gables are treated with unusual shingles patterns in four patterns. Each type of shingle is painted in a different color, emphasizing the gradation and detail. There are large, single pane windows (one above the other) on the projecting front gable. There is a two-story bay on the north elevation of the house and a bay window on the lower level of the south elevation. The exterior has clapboard siding, painted a deep red color and the trim is painted in a contrasting green.
A two-story gambrel roof barn is in the rear of the house.

History: George and Agnes Barr built this house in 1892, when George was twenty-eight years old. The house first appeared on the 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map; the 1899 Sanborn Map didn’t extend this far south. The Barrs lived in the house until ca. 1916, when they moved to George's father's house at 275 South Ann Arbor Street. Carl Schnebelt and his wife Frieda were listed as living at 211 South Ann Arbor St. in the 1922 Saline City Directory. Carl’s occupation was recorded as a baker, working just up the street at 103-105 South Ann Arbor St. Following the Schnebelts, George Martin owned this property from 1945 to 1965. The house was remodeled into apartments in 1954, but it has since been returned to a single family home and restored. The current owners removed the aluminum siding that was added in 1965 to expose the unique wood clapboard and the gable shingles (Study Committee Report).

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.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Saline, Washtenaw County, Michigan. New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1921. Sheet #6.

* Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Saline, Michigan, Washtenaw County (1888,1893, 1899, 1912, 1921 and 1929) are owned by the City of Saline and located at the Saline City Hall.

"U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989." http://home.ancestry.com/.

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