Fate of Ann Arbor's historic Delta Upsilon home to be decided soon

Wednesday, December 3, 2008 | Source: Concentrate

The fate of the Delta Upsilon house, one of Ann Arbor's most historic homes, is about to be decided.

National leaders for the Delta Upsilon fraternity expect to make a decision on whether to restore or raze the stately mansion-turned-frat-house "sooner rather than later," according to Ian Areces, director of chapter services for Delta Upsilon.

"There is a serious effort to see if we can restore it," Areces says.

Doing so would be quite the feather in the fraternity's hat. Fire ravaged the historic structure at 1331 Hill Street earlier this year. It has remained vacant since then while the fraternity haggles with the insurance company over the cost to restore it.

Albert Kahn designed the house for Delta Upsilon in 1903. It is one of the famous architect's most notable works because it is one of the earliest surviving examples of his non-industrial, non-commercial work. Kahn is famous for designing such world-renowned buildings like the Ford Rouge Plant and the Fisher Building in Detroit.

The Tudor-revival structure is accentuated by exposed timbers on the outside surrounded by stucco. Its interior is resplendent with ornamental woodwork, plaster and Pewabic tile. Read more about its history here.

Source: Ian Areces, director of chapter services for Delta Upsilon
Writer: Jon Zemke