Cornwell—Beyer House
201-203 N. Huron
1883, Romnanesque Revival

The Cornwell-Beyer House was built by Cornelius Cornwell, founder of the paper business in Ypsilanti (1855) and co—founder of the Ypsilanti National Bank (1863). Cornwell hired James Watllng Martin to design this residence on the corner of North Huron and Washtenaw, along the “Gold Coast” of Ypsilanti. Martin was related to the dentist, Dr. John A. Watling (see A15 & A20), on his mother’s side, and served architectural apprenticeships under Elijah Meyers, architect of the Michigan State Capitol (1878), and George D. Mason, Detroit architect of several other local buildings. The building was notable for having the first electricity in the city, the first telephone, and the first city water, and was reputedly the largest brick residence between Detroit and Chicago. It is a rare form of the Romanesque Revival Style in the Victorian era. The horizontal banding of limestone ribbons, the alternation of red and black brick, wedge—shaped voussoirs in the segmented and flat arched window headers, the articulated spandrel panels between floor—to—floor windows, and the half octagonal side tower bays are suggestive of the Queen Anne style. The central pediment, regularly spaced perimeter cornice modillions, and small dormered gables are identifying features of the more subdued Georgian Revival style, just emerging in the East. Arguably, traces of the Queen Anne style may also be identified, for it was a time of its highest popularity. A front portico with a monumental staircase formerly led to a well defined front entrance. Today, entrance is gained from a side door leading to a grand, interior, paneled staircase.