Jacob Hoffstetter House

Jacob Hoffstetter arrived in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1854 at the age of five with his parents, Christian and Mary Hoffstetter; one of a large number of German immigrants who arrived in the area in the 1840s and 1850s.^[2] In 1872, Jacob Hoffstetter established a saloon and grocery on Main Street.^[2] Jacob, his wife, and two sons lived above the store for some time.^[3] The business proved prosperous, and in about 1887 Hoffstetter sold the business and used the proceeds to construct this house.^[3]

The home was large, and the Hoffstetters took on boarders.^[2] These included the men of the University of Michigan chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, who boarded with the Hoffstetters from 1888 when the chapter was founded until 1894.^[4][2]

In 1937, the house was divided into apartments.^[3] Peter Heydon purchased the building in 1980 and converted it for commercial and residential use.^[4] It is a rare survivor of its 19th-century neighborhood.^[3]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 19, 1982.^[1]

The Jacob Hoffstetter House is a large two-story, red brick, gabled gate Victorian Queen Anne style structure sitting on a coursed ashlar foundation.^[4][3] The windows are narrow, single-light-sash, double-hung units with stone sills and segmental-arch heads.^[4] At the lintel level in each story, a two-brick high belt course of yellow brick encircles the building. Bay windows and the two side porches are topped with cornices.^[4] The windows are topped with carved stone keystones.^[3]

In 1937, the house was divided into apartments, and a new entrance was constructed at the southeast corner.^[3] This renovation substantially altered the interior, but much of the original wood trim was kept and new trim was selected to be consistent with the old.^[4]