Grosvenor House / Grosvenor House

Completed in 1874, this structure of High Victorian Italianate design is one of the most magnificent residences in Michigan. The interior, an excellent example of a living museum of the 1870s, contains thirty-two rooms with twelve-foot ceilings. Other striking features are eight Italian marble fireplaces each of a different color, walnut window valances with carved Egyptian heads, and a sweeping balustrade staircase. Despite the fact that electricity was installed in 1915, this house still retains several gas-operated globe lights. Elijah E. Myers designed this residence for Ebenezer Oliver Grosvenor (1820-1910). An eminent Jonesville citizen and banker, Grosvenor was also a prominent Republican statesman. He served two terms as state senator and treasurer, one term as lieutenant governor, and seven years as a University of Michigan regent. He was also vice-president and presiding officer of the State Building Commission responsible for the erection of the Michigan State Capitol in 1874-79, which Myers also designed.