Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation

06/16/2026

Save the date! Step inside Ypsilanti's history on Sunday, October 4, 2026.

Join the Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation for the 44th Annual Historic Home Tour in the beautiful Historic South Side neighborhood. Explore a collection of remarkable homes, discover the stories behind their architecture, and experience the charm, craftsmanship, and character that have made this neighborhood one of the city's most beloved historic districts.

Whether you're passionate about preservation, architecture, local history, or simply love seeing unique homes, this self-guided tour offers a rare opportunity to connect with Ypsilanti's rich heritage while supporting historic preservation efforts throughout the community.

Bring your friends, neighbors, and fellow history enthusiasts for an inspiring day of exploration in the Historic South Side. We can't wait to welcome you!

📅 Sunday, October 4, 2026
📍 Historic South Side Neighborhood, Ypsilanti, MI

Tickets and tour details will be announced soon.

05/25/2026

115 North Adams is a stately c.1912 Colonial Revival with many of the original features intact. I really like the pergola porch with Tuscan columns and the eyebrow window on the roof.

From the 2025 Ypsilanti Historic District Survey report:

This two-story Colonial Revival house has a symmetrical facade facing east onto the street. The recessed entryway has a front door with sidelights; within the entryway, the southern wall has a small wood paneled service door. The eight-over-one wood windows are in mullioned groupings of three on the first story and paired on the second. A smaller window is centered on the second floor with a bracketed planter below. The front porch has two wide Tuscan columns and two engaged square columns supporting brackets projecting from a shallow, pergola-like roof. The hip roof has an eyebrow dormer centered on the facade; above it is is a shed dormer, a modern addition, with square wood shingles and a sliding window. A brick chimney is found on each side elevation. An air conditioning unit is perched upon the roof.

One-story sun-porch wings are found on each side elevation, with open decks with balustrades above them. The southern wing has a brick foundation, while the northern wing, once an open porch, rests on brick piers.

The house was built in 1912 according to Ypsilanti Assessor records, and is first seen on Sanborn maps in 1916. By c. 1927 the porch on the north elevation was enclosed.

Although minimally altered (a dormer has been added), this building retains most of its original materials and expresses all seven aspects of integrity. It is recommended as a contributing resource within the Ypsilanti Historic District.

05/22/2026

Historic preservation in action.

05/21/2026

The Thompson Block in the city of Ypsilanti literally rose from ashes to be showcased by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

The historic renovation and reconstruction of a Civil War-era structure created a mixed-use development with support from the MEDC’s Michigan Community Revitalization Program

05/18/2026

111 North Adams was built c.1865 as an Italianate. Subsequent changes mimicked the popular designs of the time, such as the circular Neoclassical porch. Who knows what architectural secrets are hiding underneath the aluminum siding?

From the Ypsilanti Historic District Survey:

111 North Adams is a two-story, Free Classic house. It has a cubelike, primary mass with three symmetrical bays, suggesting it was originally Italianate in style before being extensively altered and expanded in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The front entryway has double doors glazed with large windows with round arches (an Italianate stylistic feature). Windows are wood one-over-ones. The distinctive, Neoclassical circular front porch has steps leading from its southeast corner and has turned balusters. The porch roof is supported by round Tuscan columns and a frieze with dentils.

The southern elevation has an oriel towards the front (east) has been obscured by aluminum siding, and a bay
window in the center of the southern elevation has a canopy with octagonal wood shingles. Towards the rear of
the southern elevation is a porch with a Tuscan column; the second story is overhanging it.

The gable walls have cove shingles; the front gable has a demilune window and pent roof.

Although altered, the changes reflect the stylistic development of the building during the period of significance. The
house retains most of its historic materials and expresses all seven aspects of integrity. It is recommended as a
contributing resource within the Ypsilanti Historic District.

05/14/2026

505 North Hamilton was carefully restored to the original Queen Anne architectural design by the owners around 2010. Thank you, thank you!

From the 2025 Ypsilanti Historic District Commission Survey:

This 1888 two-story Queen Anne house is clad in wood clapboard with a lower a band of vertical boards that appears to be a later repair rather than a historic feature. Its windows are one-over-one sash units, save on its facade, which has two large windows on each story on its projecting, gabled bay and a Queen Anne-style subdivided window the second floor above the entrance story. Wood storm windows cover those on the facade and the forward portion of the north and south elevations (four-pane storm windows are over the large facade windows). The front porch has a turned-spindle balustrade, turned columns, a low-pitch pediment centered over the front door, and a hipped roof (the entire porch is recent, added after the 1983 Survey, though its elements are in line with the house’s historic style). A small porch in the rear of the south elevation, partly hidden behind a projecting, side-gabled bay, has turned columns and decorative supports under a shed roof. The main roof has gables clad with both cove and fish scale shingles; a gablet is found in the center of the house’s facade. The rear addition built upon what was once a one-story attached garage, has a hip roof.

Since it was surveyed in 1982, asbestos siding has been removed to reveal wood clapboard siding. The front porch, a small flat roof over the entryway with wrought-iron-style columns, was removed and replaced with a porch with Queen Anne-style detailing.

A largely unaltered example of its architectural style, this building retains most of its original materials and expresses all seven aspects of integrity. It is recommended as a contributing resource within the Ypsilanti Historic District.