HISTORY

The Lee Family

Charles Lee was born December 23, 1811 in Yorkshire, England. He came to the United States with his brother in 1830, and they worked on farms in New York until moving to what is now Grosse Point, Michigan in 1832. Together they built a wind sawmill, and Charles Lee would later enter the business of manufacturing bricks in 1841. In the early 1860s, Charles Lee would move to East Saginaw, where he bought two sawmills and 300 acres of pine land for $40,000. Saginaw’s lumber boom was just beginning.

By the 1880s, Charles Lee was manufacturing over 3,000,000 feet of lumber per year. He built his home just across the street from his planing mill, and just around the corner from his sawmill along the river. He would have to rebuild his home several times, as mills were prone to catching fire, and he was forced to rebuild after a particularly devastating fire in late 1887. The house he built is the one we know today.

Charles Lee suffered a stroke that ended his life in 1899. His wife Charolette Lee would continue to live with the family until her death in 1909. Their son, Henry Lee, would handle the estate in his father’s absence. For years, he and his brother Charles Lee Jr. were widely renowned “fancy skaters,” and from 1904-1906, Henry would serve as the mayor of Saginaw.

The Charles Lee Planing Mill (later called “the Valley Lumber Co.”) was sold to Charles Duryea, the engineer of the first gas-powered engine. The Duryea Brothers were famous for winning the first automobile race in America, and Charles converted the former Lee mill into a factory, creating what he called “motor buggies.” The plant did not last long, but the promotional photos from this time gives us one of our earliest looks at the home.

The Ryan Family

It wasn’t long until the home was purchased by Dr. Michael Ryan. He was one of the last horse and buggy doctors that traveled to lumber camps selling $5 insurance certificates for St. Mary’s Hospital. Not only was he one of the first resident physicians at St. Mary’s, but during the Great Fire of 1893, he led one of the bucket brigades that saved the hospital from total destruction. He lived at the Lee Mansion with his wife, Emelie, where they raised their two children, Richard and Rosemary.

Dr. Michael Ryan would go on to become the city health officer and county coroner. His son, Richard, would also become a doctor and they both practiced from the basement of the Lee. His daughter, Rosemary, was a wonderful actress who performed many times at Pit & Balcony Theatre. She married attorney Roy DeGesero in 1942, and they started their family in a home nearby. After Dr. Michael Ryan’s death in 1957, Roy would move his law office into the basement of the Lee Mansion, and they would soon move their entire family to the home in the 1960s.

Rosemary made quite an impression on the City of Saginaw. Residents remember her well, dressing in elaborate furs and walking her pet leopard, Chichu, down Washington Avenue. Roy and Rosemary were both passionate preservationists, fighting tooth and nail to prevent the demolition of local landmarks, like the Webber Mansion and the Saginaw Courier-Herald Building. 4 terra cotta lion heads were pulled from the rubble of the news building and fixed to the front porch of the Lee, where they stayed until 2012. Today, the lion heads are preserved in the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History.

Roy passed away in 1984, and Rosemary would live in the house until she was moved to hospice care with her daughter in the mid-2000’s. After years of vacancy, the home was purchased by the City of Saginaw in 2011 as part of an effort to acquire and bundle properties along the riverfront. Almost immediately, there was a fear of demolition, and citizens mobilized to ensure the house was saved. On May 5, 2012, Rosemary DeGesero passed away, just days before a petition to save the home was presented to Saginaw City Council.

For the next few years, the preservation effort around the home would ultimately slow down. The house was rapidly deteriorating, shrouded by invasive trees, and the grass grew up to 3 feet in height. In early 2016, after observing the sad state of the home, it was brought up at a city council meeting, and a motion was passed to demolish the home. Again, there was a pushback from the community, the vote was overturned, and the home was listed for sale at $25,000. Soon after, a group of volunteers showed up to cut the grass, clear the weeds, and paint the plywood to reduce the eyesore. The effort was given a spotlight in the documentary, Re: Saginaw, and expanded into a social media campaign to raise awareness around what was happening at the Lee.

In early 2018, the house still had not found a buyer, and demolition was beginning to look more and more likely every day. Local activists began formulating a new concept for the home: a public space on the first floor, which would be supported by retail space in the basement and offices in the upstairs bedrooms. Filmmaker and activist Alex Mixter presented this concept to city leadership. It was well received, and he was given three months to find financial backing for the vision, otherwise the home would be demolished. Alex de Parry of Ann Arbor Builders would soon join the effort, and with his capacity and track record as a developer in Old Town Saginaw, he was able to sign a development agreement with the city. Work began shortly after.

Restoration work began in September, 2018. Well over 150 volunteers showed up to help with the cleaning process, which took 9 months and filled 7 dumpsters. The trees were cut down, the roof was replaced, the chimney was rebuilt, the windows were restored, the front porch was torn out and rebuilt, floors were pulled up, walls were scraped bare, structural issues were addressed, and the porch enclosure was removed, revealing the original columns and exposing the facade for the first time in over 60 years. By Autumn 2019, the exterior details were primed and a new color scheme has been planned.

On November 1st, 2019, a crowdfunding campaign was announced with the goal of raising $25,000 by the end of the year. In late December, that goal was reached, and the Lee Commons was awarded a $25,000 matching grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. This funding is specifically to create a public space within the home, including a welcome center, pop-up locale, and community meeting space. The Lee has seen 131 years on Washington Ave, and in the near future, it will be open to the public as the Front Door to Saginaw.