Ransom Gillis House Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Ransom Gillis House

General information
Architectural style	Venetian Gothic
Location	205 Alfred Street Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates	42°20′38.27″N 83°3′8.96″W / 42.3439639°N 83.0524889°W / 42.3439639; -83.0524889
Completed	1876
Design and construction
Architect	Henry T. Brush & George D. Mason

The Ransom Gillis House is a beautiful old home located at 205 Alfred Street in Detroit, Michigan. It's found in a neighborhood called Brush Park. Two architects, Henry T. Brush and George D. Mason, designed this house. It was built between 1876 and 1878. For many years, starting in the mid-1960s, the house was empty. The city of Detroit kept it safe, hoping it could be fixed up one day. Finally, on November 1, 2015, the house opened its doors again after being completely restored!

What is the History of the Ransom Gillis House?
What Does the Ransom Gillis House Look Like?
How Was the Ransom Gillis House Restored?
Who Was Ransom Gillis?
Images for kids
See also

What is the History of the Ransom Gillis House?

The Ransom Gillis House was built for a man named Ransom Gillis. He was a merchant who sold things like cloth and clothing in large amounts. The house cost $12,000 to build, which was a lot of money back then! Mr. Gillis sold the house in 1880.

Between 1880 and 1919, four different wealthy families owned the house. After 1919, the big house was turned into a rooming house. This meant that different rooms were rented out to many people. Many other homes on the street also became rooming houses.

Behind the main house was a smaller building called a carriage house. In 1903, a famous artist named Mary Chase Perry Stratton rented it. She started her pottery business, Pewabic Pottery, there. The pottery moved in 1906. After that, the carriage house was used for car repairs and battery service. It even became a gas station for a while! In 1935, it was torn down and a restaurant was built in its place. The restaurant stayed open until the 1960s. It was also torn down in 2005 or 2006.

In the late 1930s, a small shop was added to the front of the Ransom Gillis House. This shop and the rooming house were used until the mid-1960s. People tried to fix up the house many times in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000s. But none of these attempts worked until recently. By 2001, the City of Detroit owned the property.

What Does the Ransom Gillis House Look Like?

The Ransom Gillis House brought a special building style to Detroit. It's called Venetian Gothic. This style became popular because of a book by John Ruskin called The Stones of Venice.

The most interesting part of the house is the tall, round tower, called a turret. It's on the front left side of the house. This turret has five rows of colorful tiles. These tiles have simple shapes and are bright blue, red, yellow, and brown. You can see similar tile work all over the house.

At the bottom of the turret, there are stone carvings of groups of four flowers. Each group is a little different. A fancy stone post holds up the turret from below. Dark, beautifully carved wooden columns surround the porch at the front door. The house also has a steep, dark roof made of slate. It has fancy iron decorations on top, which was a popular style back then.

How Was the Ransom Gillis House Restored?

On March 25, 2015, the Detroit Free Press newspaper announced exciting news. A TV star named Nicole Curtis would be fixing up the Ransom Gillis House! Work on the house started in the summer of 2015.

Nicole Curtis led the project to renovate this old mansion from 1876. Her work was shown in an eight-part TV series on HGTV. A company called Quicken Loans, which helps people get home loans, sponsored the show. This company was started by a local billionaire named Dan Gilbert. The TV series first aired in November 2015.

Who Was Ransom Gillis?

Ransom Gillis

Ransom Gillis was born on December 20, 1838, in Washington County, New York. He was one of eight children. Ransom went to public schools and a local academy. In 1864, he moved to Detroit. He started working at a company called Allen-Sheldon Dry Goods Company.

In 1872, he started his own company called Edson, Moore & Company with his friends James L. Edson and George F. Moore. Ransom Gillis was the "buyer" for the company. This meant he chose all the goods they would sell.

His company, Edson, Moore & Company, grew very large. It took up many buildings on Jefferson Avenue. They sold many different wholesale dry goods. This included linens from Ireland and Scotland, socks and gloves from Germany, and goods from other parts of Europe and America.

In December 1893, a huge fire destroyed their main store on Jefferson Avenue. The fire caused about $750,000 in damage. Sadly, seven employees died in the fire. Two of them had to jump from the fifth floor to escape the flames. In November 1913, the company moved to a new store on Fort Street in Detroit.

Ransom Gillis married Helen A. Gaylord in 1870. They had three children: Ransom Fay, Gaylord Wilson, and Grace M.

Ransom Fay was born on November 3, 1871. He went to Yale University.

Grace M. married David S. Carter and passed away in 1901.

Gaylord was born on July 1, 1873. He went to the University of Michigan. He later took over his father's business at Edson, Moore & Company.

Ransom Gillis was an important person in Detroit. He was a member of many groups, like the Old Michigan Club and the First Presbyterian Church. He was also on the board of Grace Hospital. Ransom Gillis died on December 31, 1901, from pneumonia.