Yerkes, Robert, House

William Yerkes was one of the first settlers in the Northville vicinity in 1826. His son, Robert, was born in 1829, and spent most of his early life as a farmer. In 1870, desiring a better education for his children that could be secured in a district school, he moved to Northville. Yerkes was still active as a farmer and in time the land under his control rose to five hundred acres. He soon became interested in manufacturing and was a founder of the Globe Furniture Co. of Northville, a firm which specialized in school and church furnishings. The year before his removal Yerkes contracted with John C. Macomber of Northville for the construction of his new house. According to the contract, the Yerkes House was to be built in a 'good substantial and workmanlike manner,' for which Macomber would be paid $750. One of his workmen would also be furnished board for as long as he was at work on the project. Yerkes further agreed to haul the brackets from Detroit and the large mouldings from Pontiac, each town nearly twenty miles distant. Yerkes continued to inhabit his house until the second decade of the twentieth century. In his older years he was a prolific writer, his most important production being a history of the township of Novi, read at the dedication of the town hall in 1876. Descendants still occupy the building, and it is the most outstanding example of the many similar houses constructed in Northville by John Macomber and his contemporaries.

In the recently registered Northville Historic District the forms described a type of Gothic cottage found in large numbers throughout the town. They are frame buildings, two stories with a one and one-half story wing, characterized by two highly ornamented gables on the facade. A good deal of scroll saw work is also found elsewhere on the eaves and on the front porch. The best and most unmodified example of this interesting type, the Robert Yerkes House, was not included within the district boundaries since when constructed it was located on a farm some distance from the main part of town. Original plans and contracts for the house are still in possession of the current owner and graphically illustrate the few modernizations. The exterior is covered with clapboards with four inches exposed to the weather. Foundation is of cut granite blocks, and the original windows are four over four. The interior is notable for its black walnut pantry and wainscoting.