OHU50K Notes   $95,000

Known as the Fremont House, this fixer upper was built in 1870 by the Barber family  where they lived for three generations and 70 years. The house is one of only two remaining grand homes that once stood at the corner of Fremont and Frelinghuysen when Battle Creek was a thriving new frontier. The Victorian has five bedrooms, intricate woodwork, stained-glass windows and a turret that faces the street.

Agent Comments

This Historic Beauty will be featured in the summer edition of This Old House magazine; Save This Old House. This house has some Amazing original features in it. Original stained glass window, beveled glass in some rooms, beautiful woodwork and trim, 2 fireplaces with gorgeous side pieces. 3500+ sq. ft., 5 bedrooms 4 full bathrooms, 2 car detached garage. A sleeping porch on 2nd level, walk up attic. The additional kitchen on the second level could be turned back to a bedroom. Some work was completed in 2018. Shingles and some decking for the roof were replaced. New gutters. Side porch was rebuilt. This home is being offered through the Calhoun County Land Bank’s Transform This Home Program where buyers agree to rehab the home within a given time frame. This home needs building, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical repairs. Additional inspections are required for Occupancy Permit. Home is being Sold As-Is.

• 5 bed
• 4 bath
• 3,536 sqft
• 9,888 sqft lot
• Build date 1876

 

If interested in a property, please contact the realtor whose link is provided in the post below, or contact an agent of your own choosing. Independent verification of details and status is recommended.

26 Fremont St, Battle Creek, MI 49017  $95,000

• Contact Realtor: Melissa Kennedy – Troxel Realty Company, Llc
• Google Map
• Niche 

Family History

Three generations of the Barber family lived here, died here, got married here and operated a small gift shop here. When the house was sold in the 1950s, the new owner carved it into apartments, then left it abandoned. The Calhoun County Land Bank took it over in 2015 when it became a foreclosure.

But the house passed to other owners in the 1950s, became apartments and then became empty, abandoned. The Calhoun County Land Bank Authority took it over in a 2015 tax foreclosure.

Per the Battle Creek Enquirer:

“It was built for John Carlos Barber and his family, who moved into the home in 1876. John Carlos owned his own livery on East Canal Street and was a Deputy United States Marshal. He died at the home in 1916.

John Carlos and his wife, Sarah, had one child, a daughter named Nellie Barber. Nellie married her husband, Arthur W. Davis, at the house in 1884 and in 1934 they celebrated their golden anniversary there.

Their daughter, Louise Davis started “The What Not Shop” at 26 Fremont in 1926 and kept it open for about 20 years. She lived in the house until she died in 1952 at age 66.”

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