The Hudson-Evans House is a private, single-family home located at 79 Alfred Street in Detroit, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. It is also known as the Joseph Lothian Hudson House or the Grace Whitney Evans House, and is currently used as the offices of a law firm. The house was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1975.

History

The Hudson-Evans House was built circa 1872/73 for Philo Wright, a Detroit-based ship owner. In 1882, the house was given as a wedding present to Grace Whitney Evans, daughter of the lumber baron David Whitney Jr. (builder of the David Whitney House

David Whitney House

The David Whitney House is located at 4421 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The building was constructed as a private residence, but is open to the public as The Whitney Restaurant...

). Grace Evans was active in numerous charitable activities, and later became the first president of the Detroit YWCA

YWCA

The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...

 Between 1894 and 1904 Mrs. Evans rented the house to Joseph Lowthian Hudson

Joseph Lowthian Hudson

Joseph Lowthian Hudson , aka J. L. Hudson, was the merchant who founded the Hudson's department store in Detroit, Michigan....

, founder of Detroit’s J.L. Hudson Company department store.

The structure is now used for the law offices of VanOverbeke, Michaud, & Timmony, P. C.

Description

The Hudson-Evans House is a three-story house built of red brick on a rough-cut stone foundation, designed in a French Second Empire architectural style with Italianate influences. The floor-plan is basically rectangular, but the elaborate two-story bay windows that grace both sides of the house minimize the severity of the design. Arched moldings top the windows in the home, and the mansard roof includes colored slate laid in a decorative pattern. The porch on the home was apparently added after the original construction.