Bob and Kathy Norton came to Hillsdale in 2014, and in the course of searching for a house to buy, Bob found his dream home. Kathy, however, did not feel the same way about the run-down property in Jonesville. It took her four viewings before she recognized what Bob saw. The Nortons purchased the house, determined to return it to its former glory. They dedicated themselves to creating a comfortable, livable home while retaining the charm of its 1901 self. 

The house was the second for the George and Mina Johnson Deal family. The first had been built on West and Liberty streets in 1888 as a wedding gift  from Mina’s father. By 1901, four children had joined their family. Perhaps an equal reason to build a new home on Maumee Street was that their West Street house had an up-close and personal view (and smell) of cattle being driven to the railroad station. 

The Deal home on Maumee Street saw hard use as the Manor Foundation, a residential facility founded in 1930 for boys needing special education. It was immediately clear to the Nortons that it needed extensive work. One of the professionals they relied on was Brian Cox. He is the “finish carpenter” who carefully restored the stairway, front entry and inside moldings. As the renovation proceeded, so too did the discovery of additional information on the history of the Deal family, much of it from the Mitchell Research Center. 

In October 2016, Bob and Kathy’s dream was realized and they moved into their lovely new/old home in Jonesville. That project had been so educational that they chose to purchase other historic houses to rehabilitate for rental units. They acquired two homes on Hillsdale Street in Hillsdale to renovate for leasing to students.

From the beginning, Bob and Kathy wanted to inspire their renters with a sense of the history in the houses in which they lived. Ultimately, they wanted to connect the “town” of Hillsdale with the “gown” of Hillsdale College through the different generations of residents of the house. The first house, which they acquired in the summer of 2018 from Glen Ziegler, is on the corner of Hillsdale and Fayette streets. Glen had already had work done, so the inside needed little more than sprucing up. It was the outside that received the most attention. The corbels were returned to where the walls and roof met, and gutters, a new roof, landscaping and outdoor lighting were added. Finally, it was painted a creamy yellow. The Nortons named the property Chase Residence for Melville Chase, who built it in the 1890s. He was a music professor at Hillsdale College for 40 years, and his wife was a professor of opera at the college. The couple had six practice rooms on their first floor that  they used for private lessons. Measuring about 12 by 14 feet, these rooms open to a common area and kitchen for the six students who rent them. Melville Chase shared a February 18 birthday with Bob Norton, and tenants of Chase Residence receive Jonesville Bakery cookies on that day in celebration of this connection. 

Chase Residence was an auspicious beginning for the commitment by the Nortons to provide rentals that elicited pride in the residents because of the connection of the home to the history of Hillsdale.  

Kathy had a picture of Melville printed on canvas and hung it in the entry to remind the students that their college home was, indeed, a home. The lease signed by each renter includes two pages about the Chases. 

A two-story carriage house was created in 2019 out of the one-story garage behind the house, with corbels identical to those of the house added. The carriage house has bedrooms and bathrooms around a common area and kitchen. A work bench found in the carriage house was converted to a counter, and old forging implements (which were not original to the garage) hang on the fireplace.  

The 2020 project next door at 153 Hillsdale St. was more challenging for the Nortons. The first job was to lift the house so that the six-foot ceiling in the basement was increased to nine feet. The Nortons had to think on their feet when the excavator not only dug out the basement but also the hill in front of the house, carting away all the dirt. It could have been a disaster, but Bob and Kathy have the ability to see opportunity instead of insurmountable problems. Egress from the basement, a legal requirement, was now easy because of the additional “lift” of the house that resulted from the loss of the hill. The basement of the duplex has five bedrooms and four baths set around a common area and kitchen. Without the hill, the entrance to the first floor sat high enough that a two-level stairway was required. As a result, the front of the house looks quite dramatic, and the generous stairway is a nice place for the students to hang out. 

On the first and second floors of the duplex the conversion of a one-story porch to a three-story addition allowed for a total of 11 bedrooms and 11 baths. There are common areas and a kitchen on each floor, one with the original fireplace. The original floors and staircase were refinished, and spindles to match the original banister were newly turned when the inspector indicated that the banister on the second-floor hallway was too low. Two science tables found in the basement were installed in the second-floor kitchen for use as counters. Again, the help of Brian Cox was enlisted to craft the front entryway. Concerned about the ongoing mess created at the construction site, Bob and Kathy frequently cleaned up the yard at the end of the workday. When the project was finally completed, they gave each of the nearby neighbors a Traverse City cherry gift basket to thank them for their forbearance during the renovation.

The house at 153 Hillsdale St. was built around 1906 and belonged to Bertha Kempton. Bertha graduated from Hillsdale College and was a Pi Beta Phi. She belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Women’s Commissioners, the College Baptist Church and was influential in the community. She hosted teas at her home for the young women at the college who were in her sorority. This residence has been named the Kempton Residence by the Nortons in Bertha’s honor. Information about Bertha appears in the lease, and a picture of her graduation from Hillsdale College in 1898 is printed on canvas and hangs in the entry.

Between these two houses is a graveled picnic area with two grills, a fire pit and picnic tables. The Nortons host a mixer for the residents at the beginning of each semester to give the students a chance to meet each other and to help establish the houses that become homes away from home.

The next project for the Nortons will take place on West Street, just north of Davis Middle School. It evolved from requests from several people looking for upscale rentals in town. It involves four houses and is such a major undertaking that they have formed a company with their friends, Jason and Erin Sherrill. The Sherrilton West, LLC employed architect Rob Clark from Bloomfield Hills to reclaim the historic grandeur of the original homes, some of the most beautiful in early Hillsdale. To fulfill the requirement of the grant they seek, commercial rentals must also be available at numbers 58 and 60 N. West St. They will be located on the first floor, with parking in the rear so as not to interfere with the residential nature of the street. 

Sherrilton West, LLC is under contract to purchase numbers 52 and 66, which currently have renters. When those leases are renewed, information about the first owners will appear in them, and a vintage photo of the original owners will be displayed. Initially, only outside work will be done on these buildings along with landscaping, leaving the more extensive renovation until later. 

The two buildings between these houses are empty and have fallen on seriously hard times … including a meth explosion that requires a complete replacement of part of number 58. The  plan had been to begin work immediately, but the shortage of building materials and increased cost of what is available have delayed the start, another example of the ripple effects of the pandemic. 

Just north of Davis Middle School is 52 West St. It belonged to James B. Baldy, an unfortunate  surname to be chosen for a future residence unless, as Kathy Norton says, it implies housing for old, bald men. It may be christened the “James Residence” to avoid that connotation.  

Next to it is the home built by Judge Edward H.C. Wilson and his wife, Helen. Judge Wilson was one of Hillsdale’s first attorneys who, in 1858, became the first circuit judge from Hillsdale before the county was a circuit by itself. Sherrilton West, LLC is considering having a lawyer rent the first-floor office in the building to reflect the career of its first owner. This home was built at the end of North Street to prevent that road from continuing west. 

The third house from Westwood is the home built by Harvey Briggs Rawlson, who was a newspaperman. The motto of his newspaper, the Hillsdale Whig-Standard, was “Magnanimity in politics is the truest wisdom.” (There is no information to indicate whether the unswerving advocate of Whig principles lived up to his own motto, but one can hope he did.) The final house in the group managed by Sherrilton West, LLC belonged to a man named Wheaton. Like the leases for students on Hillsdale Street, the leases for renters in these four homes will include information about the original owners and have their picture hanging in the entry.

As with the student housing on Hillsdale Street, the Nortons and Sherrills hope to connect the present to the past. Carol Lackey loves following the trail of owners in old houses. Her research has helped the Nortons’ renters on Hillsdale Street understand the connection of their residence to early Hillsdale College history. She continues her input with the houses on West Street. 

As Bob and Kathy Norton and their North West Street business partners, Jason and Erin Sherrill, provide rental properties for different markets, they have also reclaimed homes from Hillsdale’s past that might otherwise be torn down. The units are high quality, comfortable homes away from home, and the community will once again have historic houses to be proud of.

JoAnne P. Miller 2021