91 North Main St.

This house was built in 1882 for Mr. & Mrs. Henry H. Howe. Henry & business partner/brother, James, were also owners of the brick building at 5 S. Main when it was built. Architecturally, the house is a late Victorian compilation of styles. The roof of the entrance appears to have been inspired by the Mansard roof popular in France (Note: another Clarkston house, 39 S. Main St., had a Mansard roof. See photo, page 58, Heritage. The house burned in 1950.) The trim of the porch on the south side matches that in the eaves of the second story and is apparently the original style. These details and the placement of them, that is brackets under the eaves, seem reminiscent of the Italian Revival style. The existing front porch was designed by a Birmingham architect in the late 1950s for the current owners. The design was based on the design of the porch on the south side which was thought to be original. When the current owners bought the house the front porch did not match the design of that side porch.  An old photo shows the Queene Anne porch, with turned spindles & posts, which was probably added by the Ben Millers as an updated style. The Millers also installed the front doors which were reportedly taken from the home of Elisha Clark after it was destroyed by fire. Beyond the doors the front stairway is a lovely spiral. The Millers converted the back woodshed and washroom into a kitchen and bath in 1927. The current owners added a greenhouse on the second floor, the oriel window and extended the bath on the north side in 1966. Recently the original cellar doors near the south side porch were removed and the roof of the porch was raised to just below the second story windows