This modest and well-preserved Greek Revival home appears to have been built by William H. McIntyre in about 1863, and remained in the McIntyre family well into the 20th century. The house began as a simple, gable-front Greek Revival, with the wing on the north side added after 1880. The beautiful Italianate front porch appears to have been added when the wing was built. Note the columns with decoration at the capital and the lack of a balustrade. McIntyre married Sarah Maloney in 1865, and the couple raised their five children in the house on Spring Street.

The son of Irish immigrants, William H. McIntyre was born in Northfield Township in 1835 and at age 21 became constable in the township. In 1863, he moved to Ann Arbor to become jailer at the Washtenaw County Jail on North Main Street. He served as jailer for four years and then operated a grocery store for the next 30 years under the name Wicks and McIntyre. Always active in public affairs, William McIntyre served as a city alderman in the 1870s and on the Board of Public Works, including many years as president.

Following his parents’ deaths, their son Donald owned the house until 1930, although it was already being used as a rental, which is still its use today. A picture and description in the Urban Renewal files of the city from 1958 indicate that it was a seven-room frame house with an old barn. There were four rooms on the first floor, three on the second, and two old-style baths. It was on a stone foundation and had a coal-fired gravity furnace. It sold in 1955 for $7,750.

Return to Miller Road/Water Hill/Sunset neighborhood from Historic Ann Arbor: An Architectural Guide