51 East Washington St.

The house now on this site was constructed in 1986 when the original building was demolished. The original simple early Greek Revival style house may be seen in a turn of the century photo, right, from the Habbin / Tiffany family. ( Mrs. Walter C. Habbin was Elizabeth Tiffany, the widow of Louis LePrelete Tiffany. Her son, Wm. Curtis Noyes Tiffany & wife, Bertha, built and resided in the house to the west at 43 East Washington at the time. The Tiffanys bought this house also, repaired it and rented it for a time. The Oakland Post, 1/23/1902, "Elizabeth S. Habbin to Bertha, et al., Lot north side of Washington street and south of Park Lake in the village of Clarkston, $450. The Oakland Post 6/09/1902, "W. N. Tiffany is making some needed repairs on the Habbin place, which will be occupied by Rev. D. A. Albert and family.") The porch seen in this photo is probably a later Victorian addition. Front porches became extremely popular as the turn of the twentieth century thanks to the proliferation of the Italian and Queen Anne styles. Porches were important elements of both styles so they were added to many houses in an attempt to update them. The original house was apparently built 1850/1855 as the home of one of Clarkston's early settlers, John Davis. John was one of four brothers who came to the America from Ireland, settling in Clarkston not long after 1833. According to the 1877 Oakland County Atlas, John was a county legislator for two terms. He operated an iron foundry on his property purchasing it from his brother Arthur in 1850. The property extended west from this site to the extension of Buffalo Street which at the time ran north of Washington Street to the shore of Park Lake. The 1872 Map of the Village shows the footprint of the building on this site then, owner Jesse Millard, a cooper and wagon maker. Millard had a shop on Main Street just north of the stream from the Mill Pond to Park Lake on the east side of North Main Street.