Eye candy of the week

Darius B. Moon, Lansing’s most prominent Victorian-era architect, is probably best known for his elaborate urban Queen Anne houses. This Gable Front and Wing, which Moon designed for his cousin, is considerably more subdued than his works found near downtown. The Folk Victorian style is characterized by simple house forms, onto which fancier detail has been appended. In this building, the decorative porch arches that span between chamfered columns present small-scale detail in the contrasting jigsaw cut trim.

Further color and texture contrasts are found in the multi-colored brick exterior, where the common buff-colored masonry is highlighted with red brick accents, composed into implied corner quoins and the double rowlock segmental window arches. The contrasting colors used on the porch continue in the operable shutters, their adjacent windows and even the metal roof, though it is currently hidden by a layer of snow.

The house was built in 1879 for Henry and Rachel Clements. It served as the heart of a 200-acre dairy farm, which included the land now occupied by Lansing Community College’s West Campus and encompassed most of the frontage of Mount Hope between Creyts and Snow roads. The house currently serves as the office of the Kallman Legal Group.

— Daniel E. Bollman, AIA

“Eye candy of the Week” is our weekly look at some of the nicer properties in Lansing. It rotates each with Eyesore of the Week. If you have a suggestion, please e-mail eye@lansingcitypulse.com or call Belinda Thurston at 999-5065.