Beginning on Navarre, you will see colorful two and
a half story Victorian houses with various roof shapes and
gable trim. Look closely at 326 Navarre; a similar trim
is at 801 Park. At the corner of Park and Navarre is the
first house in the area, the Chapin house. It is a Gothic
Revival that proudly lifts its cross roof and sports gingerbread
trim and ogee; gothic pointed and square windows.
Walking up Park you will see a Gambrel roof with bell cast
flare over the porch at 610. This shape reappears often.
Look at the intersection of Park and LaMonte. You will see
a Colonial Revival, a Prairie style house, and the entrance
to Sibley Court. The attractive houses on LaMonte set off
an Ernest Young house at 308. Imagine the picturesque creek
that flowed down the hill until 1875.
Continuing up Park, the Anderson house at 710 displays a
circular porch and a tower with a mansard roof. Several
carriage houses lie at the rear of lots here, all overlooking
the Goose Flats, now Leeper Park.
Next to 710 one notices a “Steamboat Gothic”
two-story spindle-railed porch. At 723 Park, the old Hodson
house has articulated and textured surfaces, machine carved
posts, and a rear mansard roof. It has vigorous ornamentation
and is capped with a sculptured chimney. Up the street,
notice the Gambrel roof and Ionic columns at 725 Park.
Riverside Drive has commodious eclectic and Prairie houses
originally oriented to the street. At the top of the hill
lies a house with especially clean lines. It has a two-story
pavilion with pediments on both the first and second stories.
The house at 831 Forest has ornamental details which show
off especially well coming up the alley from Leland. The
vernacular and New-Jacobean houses on Forest are now dressed
in new hues. Look at the roof at 712 Forest.
The house at 720 Portage reflects other shapes and roof
lines. The north of Portage has large square vernacular
houses elevated from the street. On Ashland you will view
houses in the vernacular and New-Colonial mode, with a bracketed
house at 833. Ashland runs into Rex, a street paved diagonally
with bricks. A snug Bungalow style house lies at 609. Also
on Rex are brightly colored houses and various textured
shingled sidings.
Do not miss one of the oldest buildings in the Neighborhood,
the yellow brick Chapin barn on the alley between Navarre
and LaMonte. The barn front has two segmentally arched doors
and a Gable roof. Unlike the Chapin house, it is on its
original site.
Leeper Park is worth a special visit, because it includes
the oldest house of the area, the Pierre Navarre Cabin,
moved into the area from elsewhere. Finally, the large New-Renaissance
structure on Michigan, flamboyantly concealing a pumping
station, illustrates the attitude taken by architects of
the Beaux Arts tradition that beauty need not reveal function.
