The Charles H. Hackley House is a building located at 484 West Webster Avenue in Muskegon, Michigan, USA. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. The house is part of the Hackley and Hume Historic Sites and is open to the public.
History
Charles Henry Hackley was born in Indiana in 1837. In 1856, he moved to Muskegon with his father, Joseph, and began working as a laborer in the local lumber mills. He was later promoted to foreman and then became a bookkeeper. In 1859, Charles and Joseph Hackley started their own firm, J.H. Hackley & Company. By 1881, Charles Hackley partnered with Thomas Hume to operate the successful lumbering company, Hackley and Hume. At this time, Hackley had expanded his business into other areas and became the most important financial and industrial leader in Muskegon.
In 1887, Hackley began planning to build his house by buying land at the corner of Webster and Sixth streets. He quickly sold one and one-half of these lots to his business partner, Thomas Hume, who built his own home on the land. Hackley hired David S. Hopkins from Grand Rapids to design his house and asked the local company Kelly Brothers to create the detailed woodwork inside. The house was finished in 1889.
Hackley died in 1905, and the house stayed in his family until 1943, when it was given to the Red Cross. As of 2017, the Hackley and Hume houses have been carefully restored and are open to the public as the "Hackley & Hume Historic Sites."
Description
The Hackley House is a large three-story Queen Anne house with a three-story tower at the corner and a two-story porch. The detailed 13-color exterior paint scheme has been recreated using the original colors. The roof is multi-sided with large gables, and the front has a porte-cochere. The windows come in different shapes, like horseshoe and round. Some are made from French plate glass and have stained glass decorations. The house sits on an ashlar foundation. At the back of the house is a carriage house that is shared with the next-door Hume House.
Inside, the house is highly decorated. The entrance doors and trim in the entrance hall and main rooms have many carved, turned, and molded details. These include colonnades, spindles, panels with acanthus leaves, and small figures, all made with great skill. Ceramic tiles and fabrics are also used to decorate some walls. The designs in the decorative elements include themes from Byzantine and Cambodian art, Michigan timber, and the idea of the brotherhood of man.