William and Katherine Kuhn House, Circa 1850

626 West Liberty Street

William and Katherine Kuhn House, Circa 1850

This tiny "cabin" appears to have been built around 1850 by William and Katherine Kuhn. It is an example of the very simple, small dwellings constructed by Ann Arbor's working class in the mid-19th century. Its only hints at style are the Greek Revival returns on the side gables. The original clapboard and multipaned windows also hint at an early date of construction.

The house is first mentioned specifically in William Kuhn's will: when he died in 1879, he bequeathed a "dwelling house" and the land to his wife and their eight children. The fact that a family of ten might have lived in what was essentially a one-room house with a sleeping loft, makes one ponder the privations suffered by the average family in this era.

The house had long been recognized as charming???_ both by academics who included it in a 1974 Sesquicentennial publication entitled Ann Arbor Architecture, and by neighbors who remembered Mrs. Hattie Holter, occupant from around 1950 to 1980, who kept the place in immaculate condition. This is why, when demolition was proposed in 1985, citizens in the neighborhood were so concerned. During public hearings, many spoke in favor of saving the house, despite its small size. The Ann Arbor Historic District Commission tabled action on the demolition request, and at last a rescuer came forward. Douglas Trubey, a lifelong resident of Ann Arbor who had already renovated an abandoned house in Scio Township, purchased the house.

Describing it as a "house that fell out of time," Trubey built a two story carriage house in the rear for storage and immediately began renovating the house. In 1989, the Ann Arbor Historic District Commission gave him a restoration award by for his efforts. Trubey proved the impossible ???_ that someone could and would live in this "cabin" and make it look like a home again.