Today’s stamp is on Marshall St. between Michigan and Jerome. Jerome is a curious street. It crosses north-south streets full of modest homes on Lansing’s east side, lots of two-storey dwellings hovering around 1200 or so square feet, built in the 1890s to 1920s. Yet Jerome St. itself is peppered with grander homes, a few even approaching mansionhood. This results in the incongruity of a stately old pile standing right next to an honest little house. Such is the case at Jerome and Marshall.

I have long admired this house, 1704 Jerome St. I think of it as Tudor Revival and have always thought it looked quite a bit like the English Inn, the 1927 Tudor style mansion built as the country home of a GM executive which happens to be where I had my wedding. The City Pulse profiled 1704 Jerome as part of its Eye Candy of the Week feature and called it Georgian style. I have a very rudimentary grasp of architectural styles but I still think it looks like a Tudor. The first time I saw it while driving around my neighborhood I was flummoxed: what is this doing here? Moreover, I wondered to myself, how did they manage to build that obviously modern three-car garage and yet blend it so well into the existing architecture? Even the bricks match perfectly. It can’t be original, because no one would have had a three-car garage in the 1920s when that was probably built.

Since then I have learned to use the city’s online property search to satisfy my curiosity about such things. From it I have learned that the house, yes, was built in 1929. And the garage, according to city… was also built in 1929. How strange.

Today’s stamp is near that garage, on the Marshall St. side of the property. George Hagamier was a contractor who did a lot of building in Lansing, including being hired to put an addition on the Hotel Kerns (which later burned down). I can find a reference to him being a contractor as early as 1906, when he was mixed up with some sort of fiasco involving a business called the National Supply Company. Yet, according to an article on the English Inn in the City Pulse, George Hagamier was the contractor for an addition that was put on the English Inn in the 1950s. Could it possibly be the same person? The 1940 census lists a George Hagamier of Lansing as being 69 years old. This would imply that Mr. Hagamier was still working as a contractor into his 80s, unless it is actually a father and son.

In any case, my guess is that George Hagamier was involved in building 1704 Jerome. Perhaps he was the person you called when you wanted to build a big stack of Tudor (or Georgian) bricks.

I had expected this one to be the oldest one I saw for at least a little while, but my husband has already located several 1924 pavements and when my walk takes me in the right direction you’ll be seeing them here.