17 North Holcomb St.

The home of J. M. Clark, one of Clarkston's blacksmiths, this Greek Revival style house, was constructed by 1862. The 1872 Map of the Village shows the footprint of this house. At that time, J. M. Clark owned the lot to the south and a contiguous piece to the west, as well as a building on the southeast corner of Main and E. Church Street. The last building mentioned was the site of his business where he engaged in "carriage ironing, horse shoeing, and general blacksmithing" according to the map. This shop seen in photo, page 22, Heritage, later belonged to Frank Yeager. According to an item in the 9/04/1902 edition of The Oakland Post "J. M. Clark's house is replendent with a new coat of paint." The home remained in the Clark family until about 1920. A photo of the house circa 1900, page 18, Heritage, shows a large barn behind the house. The south facade may be seen in a circa 1909 photo, page 56. While the original clapboard was covered for a time with asbestos shingles (faux cedar) a 1990's remodeling uncovered the original clapboard. Some clapboard was replaced. A window on the north facade was removed and the front door was replaced. An addition was constructed to the west facade and the interior was extensively remodeled. A new garage was also built. The original heavy cornice on the broken pediment entablature is typical of the best examples of the Midwestern adaptation of the Greek Revival style. Other elements are the gentle pitch of the roofs and the two story with single story wing (with porch) configuration.