John W. Hunter House

John W. Hunter arrived in Michigan Territory, March 10, 1818, from New York State. He settled in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, in what is now the city of Birmingham and was soon joined by his wife, parents, and daughters. He is regarded as one of the first three or four settlers of the township.

Hunter was the original purchaser of the land upon which he built the Hunter House making a purchase September 5, 1821, and possibly one as early as December 2, 1818. First Hunter built a log house, and according to the county history published in 1877: 'George Taylor, a carpenter, and without a doubt the first of his trade in the township, came in the spring of 1822. He stopped at the Hunter settlement, and worked on the frame house which John W. Hunter erected in that year.

This was the first frame house built in Bloomfield, and is the same which is now occupied by Ira Toms.' By the late 1820s Hunter had established himself as a manufacturer of farm implements and constructed a furnace in Detroit on land leased from Lewis Cass and also built a foundry near his home in Bloomfield Township. He served as township highway commissioner, and as a militia captain. John Hunter died in 1880 in Oakland County, three years after the county history was published. Long before, he had sold the house to his son-in-law, who in turn had sold it to Ira Toms.

Toms was the owner in 1877. By 1893 Henry Randall owned the house and had it moved to Fremont Street (now Brown Street) possibly because of the commercial value of its original site. The house served as a private residence to a series of individuals until it was purchased by the city of Birmingham in 1970. That same year it was moved to a new historical park on West Maple.

The history of the house has been exhaustively researched by members of the city historical society, and the recent move has meant an opportunity for painstaking study of the structure itself. Local interest in history centers around the Hunter House, which is not only the oldest house in town but closely associated with one of the earliest settlers of the region. The Hunter House is one of the oldest buildings in Michigan. It is a simple Greek Revival residence built for a man of considerable prominence in the early history of Oakland County.

The Hunter House is a simple Greek Revival residence, one-and-a-half stories high, and measures 26 by 32 feet. Greek Revival features include cornice, cornice return, and lintels. The house has frame construction and clapboard siding. An unusual feature is the plank construction found behind the siding.

The house was originally located at 168 South Woodward (then known as the Saginaw Trail). The original site is now in the center of Birmingham's commercial district. In keeping with the needs of its many owners, the house has been altered several times and moved twice. By 1872, a wing had been added to the building.

In 1893, the house was moved to Fremont Street (264 West Brown Street). The wing was not moved with the rest of the house. Changes have been made in the size and use of rooms as well as in plumbing and heating systems. Around 1920, a porch was added to the back.

When the house was moved in 1970, the porch was left behind. Restoration of the house is now underway. Attempts at authentication include the use of a fieldstone facade to resemble the original foundation. The wing (14 by 17 feet) will be reconstructed on the west side of the house.

The Hunter House has been moved twice but both times within a half-mile radius of its original site. Birmingham and environs are now almost entirely residential suburbs of Detroit. The house's new site in a wooded park along a branch of the Rouge River is suggestive of its original setting.