Skip to content
Rebuild Detroit

Popular in Metro Detroit

Call (888) 471-3135

Historic home, Midtown, since 1889

John C. Day House

Standing and open

A drawing of John C. Day House from its recorded size and style. No photo we may share has turned up yet.
Built
1889
Standing
137 years

Designed by Joseph E. Mills

The John C. Day House at 674 W. Canfield St, built in 1889. The family, the architect, the block it belongs to and what stands there today.

On the map

The house today, from the street

Today, from the street

John C. Day House from the street today Photo: Street View, 2026

What is there now

Standing and lived in

  • Lived in by its owner Homestead exemption on file Source: County parcel records
  • Standing Source: Historic Detroit

We checked building permits, sales, listings and the city's blight and demolition files on October 25, 2026.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

The house at 674 W. Canfield St went up in 1889, as Detroit's lumber, stove and shipbuilding money went into brick and stone.

It carries the name of John C. Day.

Joseph E. Mills designed it.

It belongs to West Canfield, where the city protects the look of every house on the street.

On the city map it falls in Midtown.

Most homes like it are lived in, so enjoy it from the sidewalk.

Timeline

  1. 1889 Built Designed by Joseph E. Mills
  2. 1970 Protected by the city West Canfield
  3. 2026 Today Standing and lived in

Where it is

674 W. Canfield St.

On this map

  1. John C. Day House This place
  2. George Prentis House 70 ft
  3. Henry Cowie House 100 ft
  4. Armon J. Fair House 110 ft
  5. West Canfield Historic District 120 ft
  6. John Scott House 150 ft
  7. Henry A. Cleland House 160 ft
  8. G.H. Whitaker House 190 ft
  9. Harry B. Parker House 200 ft

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District, by Joseph E. Mills Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District, by Joseph E. Mills. Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

Joseph E. Mills

American architect. Designed Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District (1884) and 10 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Joseph E. Mills

More from Detroit in the 1880s

Around the block

It is in Midtown. See the neighborhood's homes, pros and story.

In the Detroit Ledger

Photo credits

Every photo on this page is used under its license, named here with its author and a link to the original.

  1. John C. Day House from the street today Photo: Street View, 2026

Sources

Facts only, gathered from these sources. The story above is written by Rebuild Detroit. Every photo names its author and license where it appears.