Kempf House

East side. Source: aadl.org.

Kempf House, east side. Source: aadl.org.

Similar to the William Anderson House at 2301 Packard, the Kempf house is a pure temple style Greek Revival home with square columns that has decorative window grilles in the frieze section in the entablature. Thought to have been designed by Arden Ballard of Ypsilanti, the Kempf house was built in 1853 for Henry DeWitt Bennett (Wineberg 2014: 83). Reuben and Pauline Kempf bought the home in 1890 and both pursued musical careers in Ann Arbor (Shackman 1990). Reuben was a musician and teacher and Pauline gave voice lessons from the home and were both very active musically within the commnity (Wineberg ibid). After Pauline’s death in 1953 their neighbors (the Parkers) bought their home and in 1969 sold to the city and now it is a museum (Wineberg ibid.). The Kempf-House museum preserves and displays the house as it was in 1890s and overall highlights its musical and cultural importance in Ann Arbor’s history.

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