The Giles Gilbert House is a private house located at 306 N. Camburn Street in

Stanton, Michigan Stanton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,417 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montcalm County. It is located at the corners of four townships and incorporates land from each: Day Township to the nor ...

. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1984 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1987.

History

Giles Gilbert was born in

Wyoming County, New York Wyoming County is a county in the U.S. state of New York in the state's western area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,531. The county seat is Warsaw. The name is modified from a Lenape (Delaware) Native American word meaning "b ...

in 1840, the youngest of eight children born to Hiram and Maria Gilbert. He attended Genesee Conference Seminary and worked on his father's farm until the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

broke out, at which point he enlisted in the 17th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He served until 1863, after which he moved to Stanton and invested his savings in a mercantile business with Edwin K. Wood, another veteran of the 17th. The business soon became involved in lumbering, and eventually Gilbert bought out his partner in the lumbering operation, while Wood continued in the mercantile business. In 1868, Gilbert married Frances Smith; the couple had three children. In 1877, he built this house for his own use, and lived there until 1882, when he moved to

Mecosta, Michigan Mecosta is a village in Mecosta County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 457 at the 2010 census. The village is within Morton Township. Mecosta Township, which is also in Mecosta county, is located several miles to the west. Ge ...

to continue lumbering. His house in Stanton was later owned by James Willet, another prominent lumberman and mayor of Stanton, and by a succession of leading local merchants.

Description

The Giles Gilbert House is a 13-room, two-story

Late Victorian Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...

house clad in

clapboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

and sitting on a cut fieldstone foundation. The relatively plain facade is decorated with typical Late Victorian elements, including decorated trusses and oculus windows in the gables; and a jerkin head roof, chamfered posts, decorative brackets, and scrolled woodwork on the entry porch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Giles, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Victorian architecture in Michigan Houses in Montcalm County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Montcalm County, Michigan Houses completed in 1877 1877 establishments in Michigan