Lot 10, West Liberty Heights2569 West Liberty Street____________________________________ |
In the table of contents of Mr. Steinman's notebook,
he refers to "[expense] on Garage Lot no 10." I have wondered whether
this house was originally a garage, since it is much smaller than any
of the other houses. His notes say "Sold to August Beuerle Nov
21-27 cash $1,000. "Value of Lot no 10 price paid $550."
"Moved to Maybee in June 1931." "C. M. Coleman moved in Aug 3,
1936 turned water on Aug 11." After the record reflecting the
November 21, 1927, sale of Lot 10 to August Bauerle (as spelled on the
deed), the next record of sale is from Gertrude Clements and Alvin and
Hulda S. Nowak to Nick and Cathie J. Couchafits on September 10,
1976. That is a 40-year gap.
The Ann Arbor City directory shows George J. London
living there in 1943 and 1947, Clyde E. Carpenter from 1949 to 1960,
then his wife, Emma Carpenter until 1970. The City Directory
indicates that 2569 W. Liberty was "vacant" from 1971 to 1976.
Clyde E. Carpenter passed away on February 12,
1962. His obituary states his address as 2569 W. Liberty Rd.,
Scio Township. He was born in Pettisville, Michigan on February
29, 1884. He served in the Army during World War 1, and was
appointed to the Ann Arbor Fire Department on January 15, 1922,
retiring on March 1, 1948. He was married on March 22, 1922, to
Mrs. Emma Nowak who passed away at the age of 79 on June 24,
1968. She was born in Northfield Township on November 26,
1888.
Four children survived them: Mrs. Dan Patrick of Webberville,
Michigan, Mrs. Roma Dessileu of Miami, Florida, Alvin W. Nowak, and
Mrs. Benjamin (Gertrude) Clements.
As stated above, it was Gertrude Clements and Alvin
Nowak (and his wife Hulda) who sold the house at 2569 W. Liberty to
Nick Couchafits in 1976. Mr. Couchafits was living there in 2000,
when I moved to 2509 W. Liberty. We were all shocked when he died
from an infection on June 6, 2003. He was only 45 years
old. He was born June 2, 1958 in Ann Arbor and had one
daughter, Gail. He worked at Larry's Mower Shop on Jackson Road.
After Nick passed away, his father, Nick Couchafits,
Sr., sold the property to Clifford Franklin on August 13, 2003, for
$118,000. An addition was
added to the house in 2004 (seen in the picture at the top of this
page). Here are two earlier pictures, one from 1974, the other a
recent photo but before the addition was added.