Archive | September, 2015

46227 Ann Arbor Rd

12 Sep

46227AnnArborRd

46227 Ann Arbor Rd, Built in 1928 by George Smith. This home has a unique story unlike any other when it comes to the building materials used to build this brick colonial style home. Interestingly enough, these are bricks that were repurposed from the World famous Garrick Theatre in Detroit. The Garrick theatre is where Harry Houdini performed for the last time before passing away on October 31st, 1926. In 1928 the theatre located on Griswold was razed and George Smith acquired bricks from the old theatre to help build his dream home. When completed, this home was equipped with some the most modern amenities at the time. World renowned magician David Copperfield also has a brick from this home on display at the International Museum & Library of the Conjuring Arts in Las Vegas. Through the years, this home has been maintained and virtually kept in its original condition. The current owners have continued to keep this great Plymouth landmark in excellent shape and are proud of its mystifying building material history. Considering its location on Ann Arbor Road, there are literally thousands of cars that drive by this home not having a clue of its phenomenal creation. Now that you know, you can share this story and be proud of another great piece of Plymouth history.

Below is a historic photo of the Garrick Theatre and an ad for Houdini’s performance

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1071 N. Holbrook

5 Sep

1071NHolbrookStreet

1071 N Holbrook. Built in 1898. This home is one of just a handful of houses in Plymouth’s Old Village that was built of all brick. This home was built by one of the very first successful business owners in this part of town. Andrew Jackson Lapham owned a substantial portion of the block bordered by Holbrook, Wilcox, Pearl and N Mill Streets and at one time had two store structures and two homes on his land. This home had replaced the wooden house that Andrew built in 1873. Lapham’s General store was very popular in the late 1800’s because of its close proximity to the Plymouth Mill, the Phoenix Mill and Gunsolly Mill. Growers would trade in their raw materials at the mills and head to Lapham’s to purchase all types of needed goods. Lapham’s also had an Ice house on the property where they would store ice that formed in Wilcox Lake in the winter and sell it through the year. In 1929 this home was deeded to Andrew’s Daughter Helen Shackleton and was kept in the family for many years.  Although it’s showing signs of its age being well over a century old, this home still stands strong and maintains a great deal of history within the walls of this structure. Today the old stores no longer stand on this property but other homes built by the Lapham & Shackleton family still exist in this part of town and descendants of Andrew still live here in town and surrounding areas.

Historic photo of this home, Lapham’s General Store and of Andrew Lapham provided by the Andrew’s Great Grand Daughter: Janet Millross Renwick. Photo below is Lapham’s General Store that was located on Holbrook right next to Andrew’s home. Look closely at the historic photo of the house and you can see the brick wall of the store. LaphamGenStoreHolbrookSt

Holbrook brick house (Lapham)

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