Rowe House

The Rowe House is a pleasing reminder of the taste and prosperity of a community-minded, nineteenth century rural family. The Rowes' insistence on craftsmanship, sturdy construction, elegance, and preservation has resulted in this fine interpretation of the Greek Revival style into cobblestone. The Rowe family first came to Michigan in 1835. Squire W. and Dolly Rowe came from New York, where Squire was born in 1815 in Camillus. They purchased forty acres in Highland Township, twenty-five miles from the nearest mill or post office. Their farming met with great success, and Squire's influence spread throughout the community. He was the Township Supervisor for twenty-one terms, a member of the state legislature in 1865, and raised a company for the 13th Michigan Regiment in the Civil War. Ill health kept him from more active service. Eleven years after the date stone was placed on this house, Squire died, leaving Dolly and his eight children. One grandson, Grant S. Rowe, became as prominent as his grandfather. Born in 1865, Grant married Carrie, the daughter of Isaac Jackson, founder of the Milford Times. He became involved in the paper, and was a successful businessman, as well as a member of the board of education for twelve years. Among his eight children was Margaret Rowe Mastick. In 1908 the Rowe House passed out of the family's hands until 1953, when Earl and Margaret Mastick purchased it and began restoration.

Built in 1855, the Rowe House is an elegant cut fieldstone example of the Greek Revival style. The house is composed of three major sections: a two story, gable-fronted, rectangular central section, flanked on either side by one-and-one-half story wings. The house is a striking contrast of surfaces and textures. The irregular sized, cut fieldstone of the exterior walls plays against the flat, smooth surfaces of the beaded mortar joints and the stone quoins, sills and lintels. This effect is heightened further by the flat surfaces projecting one-quarter to one inch beyond the fieldstone. Each wing has a one story, two-bay width porch, supported by square Doric columns. The central section, which is also two bays wide, has four double hung sash windows on the south or front facade. Each of these windows is composed of six over six panes and has louvered wooden shutters. Delicate scrolls under the wide eaves decorate the boxed cornice and returns. In the center of the building is a cobblestone chimney. A rarity in Michigan architecture, a datestone is centrally placed, immediately above the cut stone watertable, and reads '1855.' A carport was added to the east during the first part of this century; however, its fieldstone exterior blends with the rest of the building. Much of the original Rowe family furniture, such as the Board and Gay piano, has been returned to the interior. The present owners purchased it in 1953, thereby returning it to the family and restoring much of its original detail.