SAGINAW, MI -- The return of an original stained glass window to the historic Charles Lee Mansion in downtown Saginaw is seen as a triumph for the building’s restoration effort, which has made great strides to fix up a landmark that had once fallen into disrepair.
The nonprofit, public-private effort to restore the mansion unveiled the installed window Tuesday, Sept. 29, at a gathering attended by city officials. The window and three others were once stolen from the building, said project manager Alex Mixter, but a donor brought the window back to them in the memory of former Saginaw Mayor Greg Branch, who was dedicated to preserving the mansion.
The main room overseen by the stained glass will now be known as the Greg Branch room, said Alex de Parry, president of Ann Arbor Builders, the contractor hired for the mansion’s restoration work.
The mansion was in danger of demolition in 2018 until the city reversed course and accepted a development agreement with Ann Arbor Builders. Since, The Lee Mansion Restoration Project has worked on returning the home to its former glory, with a plan to use the ground floor as a community meeting space and rent offices in the upstairs space, Mixter said.
“At this point, it’s all finishing touches, so the stained glass coming back is pretty much perfect timing,” Mixter said. “You just can’t really replace it, and when it comes back home, it feels right.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed plans a bit, but the restoration is in its finishing stages, he said. The project recently held a public workshop in the home on restoring old houses.
“We want this restoration to kind of be like a lightning rod for other restorations,” Mixter said. “We learned so much here by just being hands on and making a lot of mistakes, learning as we go. We wanted to help people to hurdle all those things and be able to jump right into it.”
The mansion was built in the 19th century by its namesake, lumber baron Charles Lee. It is located at 633 S. Washington Ave, now roughly the edge of downtown Saginaw, across the street from a 7-Eleven store.
Karen Lee Current, a descendant of Lee’s brother, didn’t know about the house until getting into genealogy about a decade ago, she said. Since finding out she had a lumber baron in her family, she’s been excited about the community interest in the mansion.
“It’s really, really exciting to see this, that somebody has taken the effort and the time to restore this house,” Current said. “It’s a good feeling.”
Mayor Floyd Kloc attended the unveiling, as did councilmembers John Milne, Bill Ostash and Jamie Forbes. Kloc said the mansion comes from an essential era in the city’s history, and he hopes the restored space can serve as an emblematic “front door” to Saginaw.
“We’ve lost so many of our magnificent mansions from the lumber era that having this one preserved, to me, is really central to our history,” Kloc said. “I think it’s really, unbelievably fabulous."
Ostash has been involved in the restoration effort since before he was elected to council, he said. He lives in the area and remembers when previous owner Rosemary Degesero lived in the home; Degesero was a local celebrity for her pet leopard Chichu, who she would walk on a leash near the house. The home was informally known as the “cat lady mansion” after Degesero.
“I’m really happy because this is gonna be something that’s gonna be here for a long time,” Ostash said. “Even when we’re gone, people will talk about how this house came back and how the city almost lost it.”
Read more:
Saginaw City Council votes unanimously to save ‘cat lady mansion’
Death of former Saginaw Mayor Greg Branch ‘a loss to our whole community’
Volunteers spruce up historic home near downtown Saginaw
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