Eastern Is Given Old Ypsilanti House

YPSILANTI - A mid-Victorian house at 415 N. Huron St. that is thought to be approximately 100 years old was accepted as a gift to Eastern Michigan University by the Board of Regents yesterday. The donor is Miss Evangeline Lewis, a retired teacher and private school administra tor, whose home it has been since 1905 when her widowed mother bought it at a tax sale. Miss Lewis was graduated from what was then Michigan State Normal College in 1910. To be called "Lewis House," the órnate, thirteen-room structure will be used by the university to house special guests, hold small meetings and for similar other purposes. "My roots are deep in Eastern as well as Ypsilanti" said Miss L e w i s . "My mother received her teaching certifícate from the Normal in 1889. All six of us children went to the Training (laboratory) School. Then I went oh to getj my own certifícate in 1910. "I have traveled a great deal and worked in different places, but I have spent every Christmas except one in this house since 1905. I couldn't bear the thought Of selling it and seeing it cut up into tiny apartments or torn down," she said. v The white, two-story house isl carvel-built. This means thatl the planks were set flush, notl overlapping. From the thick-l ness of the walI, Miss Lewisl believes that there is brickwork behind the wood exterior. Doublé front doors open into a square, room-size foyer. To the left is a spacious drawing room with a fireplace set in one wall and a bay window at the f ar end. A dining room with handmade, built-in cabinets is beyond the foyer. The house has two kitchens and two baths. It is completely furnished, many of the pieces antique. The furnishings remain the property of Miss Lewis but she is leaving them for the university to use. One large bedroom will be reserved for her personal usej when she is in the city. The regents also approved the following property purchases: What is known as the Whitehouse property at 615 W. Forest Ave. (just east of College PI. for $44,000. The house on this ülot will be razed and the land, with adjoining property, will be the site of a parking structure. A section of the Penn Central right of way between Ann and Lowell St. for $25,620 ($1 per square foot). This completes acquisition of the right of way to be used as a connecting link between the Main and West Campuses. A plot on Newton St., just north of the right of way for $31,538 ($2.50 per square foot).