Charles Trowbridge House

01 / The story of this place

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Charles Christopher Trowbridge, a banker, fur trader and Detroit's first city clerk, built this Greek Revival house on East Jefferson Avenue in 1826 for about $2,500. He lived here for more than fifty years, raising a family with his wife Catherine Whipple Sibley, and it's believed to be the oldest surviving house within the city of Detroit. The home was updated with Victorian details, including a bay window, around 1889, then converted into a rooming house in 1936 before being restored as a single-family residence in 1942. It later shifted to office use and today holds a law firm, an accounting firm and a real-estate company. The house was named a Michigan state historic site in 1974 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

1. Built in 1826 for Charles C. Trowbridge, Detroit's first city clerk
2. Believed to be the oldest surviving house in Detroit
3. Trowbridge lived here for more than fifty years
4. Michigan historic site since 1974, National Register since 1976
5. Today houses law, accounting and real-estate offices