John Haarer Building, 1888

113 West Liberty Street John Haarer Building, 1888 West Side Book Shop In the 1870s photographer John Haarer operated a "Daguerrean Salon" on this site. Like most photographers of his day, he promoted himself as something of an artist. Photographs were the first portraits the general public could afford, and the typical photographer's studio was likely to carry ornamental frames and "art prints" or reproductions, as Haarer's did. When Haarer replaced his frame house and studio with the present structure in 1888, he sought a stylish look. Many decorative touches embellish this handsome brick building: patterns of pressed brick, fancy brass hardware, and ancient-looking numerals recording the date of its construction. The round-arched windows and rounded bricks are characteristic of Richard-sonian Romanesque architecture. The plate glass storefront was one of the first in town, and an impressive fireplace of marbleized slate graced the parlor of the spacious family apartment upstairs. The Haarer family soon added a book and stationery shop to the studio. A later generation founded a general insurance company, and by 1940 Julius F. Haarer was not only the proprietor of the Haarer Book Company and the Haarer Insurance Company, but was also active in the management of the Buhr Machine Tool Company. In 1964 the city bought the land, planning to demolish the building to provide additional downtown parking. Fortunately a later city council scrapped those plans. The building served in 1974 as headquarters for the Ann Arbor Sesquicentennial Commission. Joseph and Carolyn Arcure purchased the building and remodeled it for their residence in the late 1970s. A bookstore again occupies the ground floor. The fine features of the building have been preserved and restored, and an imaginative renovation of the upper two floors has produced an unusual and inviting home.