174 North Main St.

While the research done for the 1975 Historic Building /Structure Inventory Form cited circa 1871 as the construction date for this house, with carpenter James Carran as the builder/owner, the assessed value as early as 1864 seems to indicate a building of some kind on this parcel by then. The assessed value in 1864 was $250. This is the first year this parcel was listed seperately. When this assessed value is compared with the $600 value for the property to the north (in 1866 J. Axford 66 acres or part of the west 1/2 of northeast 1/4, a sizable piece of property) the $250 value seems too great for a parcel this size without a structure on it. Further increases in value may indicate additions made by Carran to the original house. The house remained in the Carran family until at least 1911. (There are no tax records available at present for 1912 & 1913.) The style of the structure also seems to indicate the earlier construction date. The original section of the house, like many other early Village houses, is a one & 1/2 story with two story wing configuration typical of the Midwestern adaptation of the Greek Revival style. Other elements of the style are the one & 1/2 story's low-pitched gable roof with broken pediment facing the street; the recessed porch of the single story; and symmetrical placement of the windows under the gable. This house like others has two doors on the street facing facade. One door is an entrance to the one & 1/2 section while the other, at a right angle to it, is the entrance to the single story wing. These doors may have been original since it was common to have two front doors, one door was an entrance to the Sunday parlor, the other was the family entrance. However these doors may be the result of a change of use. The house was long used as a two family residence. Recently the house has undergone restoration. The garage built behind the house was built in 1998.