On Dec. 13, neighbors in and around Woodlawn Avenue, Wells Street, and Forest Avenue - just off Packard Street near Granger Avenue - gathered at the home of Christa and John Williams. The event was partly a holiday celebration, but also a lively, informal opportunity to see their newly completed sun room on the north side of the house (also known in Ann Arbor as the Eberbach House). My wife and I live on the south side of Wells and had heard and seen construction activities during recent months over our backyard fence.

 

The new sun room is bright and airy, giving one a sense of being outside and pleasantly surrounded by nature. This will be a wonderful place to monitor our local squirrel and robin populations, as well as watch drifting snow on cold winter days. The screens on three sides will also allow easy access for late spring, summer and early fall breezes.

The gathering provided an opportunity for neighbors to meet, catch up on local news, and talk with craftsmen and various contractors who worked on the project, including Al Gardelescu of the Renewal Company. Even the architect - Marc Rueter - was in attendance. People were encouraged to take a self-guided tour and imagine life from a bygone era. Adults and children climbed narrow stairs up to the tower (watch your head!) for a bird’s eye view of the surrounding neighborhood and many checked out a very large and cozy basement. The Eberbach House was built in the early 1860s by Christian Eberbach and is said to have been a near final stop on the Underground Railroad to Windsor prior to and during the Civil War.

If you would like to know more about the history of this Burns Park home, go to the Ann Arbor Observer’s online archive of Grace Shackman's Then and Now column at the Ann Arbor District Library and read the January 1994 article: The Country Estate of Christian Eberbach.

John and Christa, thank you for a very neighborly event and a most enjoyable afternoon!