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Historic home, Brush Park, since 1876

Ransom Gillis House

Still standing, photographed 2025

Alfred Street in Detroit, Michigan (United States), 2025 Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Built
1876
Style
Venetian Gothic
Standing
150 years

Designed by George D. Mason and Henry T. Brush

The Ransom Gillis House at 205 Alfred St, built in 1876. The family, the architect, the block it belongs to and what stands there today.

On the map

Then and now

Photographed 2025

The Ransom Gillis House in Detroit, Michigan (United States), 2025 Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Today, from the street

Ransom Gillis 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 205 Alfred St went up in 1876, in Detroit's Gilded Age, when stove works, shipyards and railroads made the city's first fortunes.

It carries the name of Ransom Gillis.

The plans came from George D. Mason and Henry T. Brush, working in the Venetian Gothic style.

Today it sits inside Brush Park, one of the blocks Detroit has chosen to protect.

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

Timeline

  1. 1876 Built Designed by George D. Mason and Henry T. Brush
  2. 1980 Protected by the city Brush Park
  3. 2026 Today Standing and lived in

Where it is

205 Alfred St.

On this map

  1. Ransom Gillis House This place
  2. James V. Campbell House 300 ft
  3. Philo E. Wright House 310 ft
  4. Hudson-Evans House 320 ft
  5. Lucien Moore House 360 ft
  6. William H. Craig House 410 ft
  7. Isaac L'Hommedieu House 410 ft
  8. Henry Glover House 420 ft
  9. Horace S. Tarbell House 430 ft

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

George D. Mason
Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

George D. Mason

American architect, 1856 to 1948. Designed the Lincoln Motor Company Plant (1917) and 39 more in Metro Detroit

Also by George D. Mason

Architect

Henry T. Brush

American architect, 1849 to 1879. Designed the Ransom Gillis House (1876) and 2 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Henry T. Brush

More from Detroit in the 1870s

Around the block

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

Photo credits

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

  1. Alfred Street in Detroit, Michigan (United States), 2025 Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. The Ransom Gillis House in Detroit, Michigan (United States), 2025 Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. 205 Alfred, Brush Park, Detroit Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. Ransome Gillis House, 2016 Photo: Matt Krajenke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. Ransom Gillis House Front, 2016 Photo: Matt Krajenke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  6. Ransom Gillis House Chimney Detail, 2016 Photo: Matt Krajenke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  7. Ransom Gillis 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.