Frankfort Land Company House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Frankfort Land Company House
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 Location in Michigan
Location in the United States
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| Location | 428 Leelanau St., Frankfort, Michigan, United States |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1867 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 95000452 |
| Added to NRHP | April 14, 1995 |
The Frankfort Land Company House, also known as the John Bockoven House, is a historic home in Frankfort, Michigan, United States. It is located at 428 Leelanau Street. This house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Today, it operates as the Stonewall Inn B&B, which is a type of guest house.
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A Home for Company Leaders
The Frankfort Land Company started building the town of Frankfort in 1859. Around 1867, they built this house. It was meant to be a home for the company's important officials who lived there. This house was the first fancy building in town. It showed that the company believed Frankfort would grow and become successful.
Early Owners and Families
In the 1870s, Hugh and Emily Marsh bought the house. They lived there until 1881. Then, Stephan Grubbs purchased it. In 1885, Elvira Bates bought the house. She moved in with Anna Alice Little, who was the daughter of a close friend.
Anna married Henry Hills in 1885. She continued to live in the house with her family and Elvira Bates. In 1888, Elvira gave the house to Anna. Elvira passed away in 1900. The Hills family moved to Grand Rapids in 1905. They rented out the house for ten years.
The Bockoven Family and Restoration
In 1915, John J. and Caroline Bockoven bought the house. They were from Grand Rapids and used it as a summer getaway. Their son, John C. Bockoven, later married and had a family. He also continued to use the house, mostly in the summer months.
The Bockoven family used the house until John C. Bockoven died. After that, its use slowly stopped, completely by about 1973. The house was empty until 1987. John C. Bockoven Jr. then sold it at an auction to Ed Wichert. Ed was a local antiques dealer.
Ed Wichert and his wife Mary Louise sold many of the antiques inside the house. They also bought out their business partners. This allowed them to move into the house themselves. In 1993, the Wicherts began restoring the house. They kept its original style. They made a separate living area for themselves and built a carriage house in the back.
The Wicherts opened the house as the "Frankfort Land Co. Bed & Breakfast Inn." They sold the house in 2001. The new owners changed the name to the "Stonewall Inn B & B."
What the House Looks Like
The Frankfort Land Company House is a great example of Italianate architecture in Benzie County. It has two stories and is shaped like a "T." The main part of the roof is a hip roof, which slopes down on all sides. There is also a single-story wing with a gable roof, which has two sloping sides that meet at a ridge.
On top of the main section, there is a square, hip-roofed belvedere. A belvedere is a small room or structure built on top of a house. It often has great views. You can see decorative brackets under the eaves, which are the parts of the roof that hang over the walls. The windows are tall and narrow. They are "four-over-four double-hung" type, meaning each window has two sashes that slide up and down, and each sash has four panes of glass. They still have their original working shutters. There is also a bay window on one side, which sticks out from the wall of the house.
