550 South Ann Arbor Street

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-and-one-half story, cross-gabled Queen Anne style house with free classic details. There is a round tower with a conical roof on the front (east) façade of the house and a small window in each of the three gabled peaks. The front porch features round support columns mounted on low fieldstone bases and a fieldstone foundation. The porch wraps around from the front (east) to the southeast corner of the house.
A sleeping porch is located on the second level of the north elevation, a two-story addition on the rear (west) and a detached two-car garage behind the house, on the south end. According to a graduate student report done in 2003 by Susan Obert, there is a back entrance on the house that leads to the basement, where the cooking was done and a dumb waiter was located. The original barn was razed and was replaced with a large two-car garage. The cistern is still located under the driveway (Obert).

History: John Henry Barr (275 South Ann Arbor Street) originally owned the property on which this house sits. His son, William Henry Barr built the house at 550 South Ann Arbor Street in ca.1894, and moved in shortly after marrying his wife Maude in 1896. William and his brother George worked for their father on his farm and in the sorghum and cider mill that was located on South Ann Arbor Street. William also helped to design the plans for the Baptist Church at 201 S. Ann Arbor, built in 1904 (Kosky and Glynn Survey). William and Maude continued to live at this house through 1958. On the 1910 United States Federal Census, William and Maude are listed as living here with their son and three daughters. Eunice Tower, the Barr’s youngest daughter, lived in this house from 1958 through 1963. The current owners have done extensive restoration work on the interior of the house (Obert).

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.

Obert, Susan. "A Profile of Saline’s Historic Properties: 550 South Ann Arbor Street."
Graduate Student Report, Eastern Michigan University, 2003.

Saline Area Historical Society photo available through the Saline District Library under the Saline History tab. http://saline.lib.mi.us/

United States Federal Census. Year: 1910; Census Place: Saline, Washtenaw, Michigan; Roll: T624_677; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0137; FHL microfilm: 1374690. http://www.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