The Aarons Home

In 1872, local businessman Clark D. Gardner, along with a business partner, bought two corner lots on the corner of Second and Maple streets and had two identical houses built. Gardner sold his immediately, but over the next 10 to 12 years, different owners expanded and altered the house. In 1886, businessman Michael Engelmann bought it and gave it to his daughter for a wedding present. Thus, Gus Kitzinger and wife Sara Engelmann lived there for 10 years.

Jacob Aarons, a successful merchant from Flint, bought it in 1898 and lived there for many years. It later became the Robert Topping residence until the early 1970s. The home later switched hands a few more times. In 1994, Robert Palmer and Suzanne Riley purchased the home, which had not been lived in over 25 years. Over the years, the house has been renovated and revived to honor the Victorian Gothic that it once was and still is today.