Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity (Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority), 1921

1550 Washtenaw Avenue

Phi Kappa Psi, 1921 Tudor Revival, which replaced an 1861 Gothic Revival/Italianate house designed by Samuel Sloan

This multi-gabled house, nestled among trees with a deep setback from Washtenaw Avenue, was built in 1921 in the popular Tudor Revival style. Since 1892 Phi Kappa Psi had occupied an older home on the site, the estate of local clothing merchant Chauncey Millen, a spectacular example of an 1860s high style house, combining features of the Italianate and Gothic styles. According to a local architectural historian, it was built from a design from Samuel Sloan's The Model Architect (1861) and was the only one of its kind built in the U.S.

Replete with half timbering on the upper floors (exposed beams separated by stucco), steeply pointed gables, tall narrow casement windows with many panes of leaded glass, and a low arch framing a recessed entry, the new house was a textbook example of the Tudor Revival style.

In 1971 the house was sold to the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, which occupies it today. The three pairs of brick pillars lining the driveways have an interesting history (despite the fact that they are a target of graffiti artists). Five of the pillars have the Greek letters for Phi Kappa Psi, the sixth has the initials JCK. These refer to Jerome C. Knowlton, a well-known law professor, who lived next door to Millen. He and Millen shared a driveway, and when the old house was pulled down, Knowlton's initials were inscribed on one pillar to honor his memory.